Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood

Day 8 – Thursday after 1st Sunday of Lent

To Read

So for a week Christopher Robin read that sort of book at the North end of Pooh, and Rabbit hung his washing on the South end…

and in between Bear felt himself getting slenderer and slenderer.

And at the end of the week Christopher Robin said, “Now!”  So he took hold of Pooh’s front paws and Rabbit took hold of Christopher Robin, and all Rabbit’s friends and relations took hold of Rabbit, and they all pulled together …

So, with a nod of thanks to his friends, he went on with his walk through the forest, humming proudly to himself.  But Christopher Robin looked after him lovingly, and said to himself, “Silly old Bear!”

(Winnie the Pooh – Chapter Two – Pooh Goes Visiting)

From the Scriptures:

[Jesus] said to them, “Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.” For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat.  

(Mark 6v31)

For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:
In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused…..

(Isaiah 30v15)

To Reflect:

So for a week Christopher Robin read that sort of book at the North end of Pooh, and Rabbit hung his washing on the South end… and in between Bear felt himself getting slenderer and slenderer.

Well, having taken the ’leisure to eat’ our Silly old Bear is now facing an enforced time of being ‘apart for a while and resting!’

The pity (and blame) party finally comes to an end when, realising he is so stuck he can’t even sigh, a tear rolls down his cheek.  This is penitence at its most simple and pure; realising that you aren’t where you should be and wanting to be in a different place. Absolution comes with a penance – a self-chosen one of having Christopher Robin read ‘a sustaining book’^[1] to him and sitting still for a whole week!

But Pooh does not just sit still in his captivity.  He also becomes useful.  Whilst he stills his mind with his ’North end’  listening to Christopher Robin his ‘South end’ is pressed into service as a clothes horse for Rabbit.  There is something about learning the art of ‘Being’and ‘Doing’ at the same time.  This is one of the keys to a serenity of life and entering into the ‘peace that passes understanding’ (cf. Philippians 4v4-7). 

If, as am I, you find yourself to be not just a Silly but also a busy (over-busy!) old Bear then times of rest are essential.  Without a time-out we are useless and can do little that prospers. Yet also, without action and a sense of purpose, we drift into despondency at best and self-seeking at worst.

If we are wise we will learn to plan for this ebb and flow of Being and Doing in our life and not wait until we find ourselves stuck in a rabbit burrow! Each of us needs to seek out a ‘Trysting place’ ^[2], a place where all we aim to do is listen to the sustaining words of our Beloved.  For me, my current place is on the Isle of Bute to which I hasten after the February session of General Synod.  Sadly this month I won’t be able to have a time of quiet there, a time of ‘Being’, as I am leading a Quiet Day myself! Hoist on a petard of my own making! But I have a cunning plan! The dates for this year’s On Fire Mission Conference are fixed firmly in my diary….

However the hoovering still needs doing and the washing must be hung out to dry somewhere.  We can’t spend our whole lives reading ‘sustaining books’ whilst others work their fingers to the bone around us.  In the Christian Life we cannot be Martha or Mary (Luke 10.38-42)^[3] we must needs be both!   So, even if it is that we get pressed into the ignominy of being someone else’s clothes horse, we can still be following the command of our Beloved to love our neighbour as ourself.

When we find this balance, and it doesn’t happen all at once, along with Pooh Bear we can finally say,  ‘And “Oh!”…  and be set free to thank our friends and go on our way humming to ourselves looking for the next adventure.

(St John of the Cross)

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