Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood
Day 4 – Saturday after Ash Wednesday
To Read:
“Is that the end of the story?” asked Christopher Robin.
“That’s the end of that one. There are others.”
“About Pooh and Me?”
“And Piglet and Rabbit and all of you. Don’t you remember?”
“I do remember, and then when I try to remember, I forget.”
“That day when Pooh and Piglet tried to catch the Heffalump —”
“They didn’t catch it, did they?”
“No.”
“Pooh couldn’t because he hasn’t any brain. Did I catch it?”
“Well, that comes into the story.”
Christopher Robin nodded.
“I do remember,” he said, “only Pooh doesn’t very well, so that’s why he likes having it told to him again. Because then it’s a real story and not just a remembering.”
“That’s just how I feel,” I said.
Christopher Robin gave a deep sigh, picked his Bear up by the leg, and walked off to the door, trailing Pooh behind him. At the door he turned and said, “Coming to see me have my bath?”
“I might,” I said.
“I didn’t hurt him when I shot him, did I?”
“Not a bit.”
He nodded and went out, and in a moment I heard Winnie-the-Pooh – bump, bump, bump – going up the stairs behind him.
(Winnie the Pooh – Chapter 1 )
From the Scriptures:
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. 31 But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name. (John 20v30-31)
To Reflect:
“I do remember,” he said, “only Pooh doesn’t very well, so that’s why he likes having it told to him again. Because then it’s a real story and not just a remembering.”
All stories are true stories because all stories tell a truth.
This was something demonstrated by The Inklings, that famous group of English authors that used to hold their meetings in an Oxford pub. Two of their number, C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien, going on to use the ‘truth’ of their stories in the fantasy worlds of Science Fiction, Narnia, and Middle Earth to explain the greater Truth of God’s love for all.
The writers of the Scriptures knew this truth as well. This is why, particularly in parts of the Old Testament, they never seem to tire of saying the same thing again and again and again. The writers of the Psalms are especially good at this – have a read of Psalm 136! But it is not just the songwriters who like repeating a chorus to drive the message home. Throughout the Scriptures writers tell the story of what has gone before to explain what is happening now and point towards a future hope. And in so doing the story is told again and becomes ”a real story and not just a remembering.”
So it is across Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Familiar stories told over and over again remind us of God’s presence and care in the past and help us find faith for the future. It is not for nothing that followers of these faiths are called ‘People of the Book.’
For Christians this telling of a story is seen most frequently in the sharing of the Lord’s Supper. Each time we gather together the prayer over the gifts begins with a reminder of God’s mighty acts on behalf of God’s people, is followed by an ‘anamnesis’ – literally a ‘remembering’ – of what happened at the Last Supper and a prayer for the Holy Spirit to descend upon the gifts and those present that they may become God’s Story as they ‘Go in Peace to love and serve the Lord.’
Perhaps, like Pooh and Christopher Robin, we need to learn again the power of listening to the ‘Old, old story of Jesus and His love.’
Tell me the old, old story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
Of Jesus and His love.
Tell me the story simply,
As to a little child,
For I am weak and weary,
And helpless and defiled.
Each of us, remorse filled at having hurt someone (it’s not only Christopher Robin who ‘shoots’ their friend) or tired out and in need of refreshment as we go ‘bump, bump, bump’ up the stairs for a bath, needs to hear the story again and again. Not to make it true – for all stories tell a truth – but to help us remember for we, with our friends in the 100 Aker Wood, are all bears of small brain and it takes time for the truth to sink into our sawdust filled heads.
Tell me the story slowly,
That I may take it in,
That wonderful redemption,
God’s remedy for sin.
Tell me the story often,
For I forget so soon;
The early dew of morning
Has passed away at noon.
To Pray:
Lord you are my lover,
My longing,
My flowing stream,
My sun,
And I am your reflection.
(Mechthild of Magdeburg)
To Do:
- Write out, or draw a picture of, or type, your favourite story from the Bible.
- Choose your favourite Gospel and read it at one sitting.
Please Note: These reflections are also published on my blog: suffolkvicarhomes.com on Twitter as @SuffolkVicar, and on my public Facebook page Rev Andrew Dotchin
If you would like them as a daily email please send a request to vicar@felixparish.com
Acknowledgements:
Text from ‘Winnie the Pooh’ and ‘The House at Pooh Corner’ by A.A. Milne copyright © The Trustees of the Pooh Properties.
Line illustrations copyright © The Estate of E.H. Shepard.
Colouring of the illustrations copyright © 1970 and 1973 The Estate of E.H. Shepard and HarperCollins Publishers Limited
Prayers are from ‘The Little Book of Prayers’ edited by David Schiller copyright © David Schiller 1996: Workman Publications.
Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
These Reflections, ‘Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood’ are copyright © Andrew Dotchin 2024
Suffolk Vicar 