Hunny! 40 Days in the 100 Aker Wood – Day 14 – Thursday after 2nd Sunday of Lent

To Read:

Winnie-the-Pooh woke up suddenly in the middle of the night and listened.  Then he got out of bed, and lit his candle, and stumped across the room to see if anybody was trying to get into his honey-cupboard, and they weren’t, so he stumped back again, blew out his candle, and got into bed.

“Worraworraworraworraworra,” said Whatever-it-was, and Pooh found that he wasn’t asleep after all.

“What can it be?” he thought. “There are lots of noises in the Forest, but this is a different one.

It isn’t a growl, and it isn’t a purr, and it isn’t a bark, and it isn’t the noise-you-make-before-beginning-a-piece-of-poetry, but it’s a noise of some kind, made by a strange animal!  And he’s making it outside my door.  So I shall get up and ask him not to do it.”

(The House at Pooh Corner – In which Tigger comes to the Forest)

From the Scriptures:

Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, ³⁵ for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me,³⁶ I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’

(Matthew 25.34-36)

It has often been pondered whether our pets, especially those who are assistance animals, will be with us in Paradise.  Well, I’m a Franciscan so for me it’s a no brainer; God loves our fur friends for the way they love us.  But, and this may bring joy to those who have lost a soft toy in their journey through life, Pooh demonstrates today that plush animals will have a place at the Wedding Banquet of the Lamb.  Because they welcome, almost always without question, and provide shelter and succour.  In one simple act in the middle of the night when he would rather be in bed dreaming of honey Pooh completes four of the Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy.  How can he not be sitting very near to our Beloved?

Will we ever able to rise to the level of openness and generosity of this Bear of Very Little Brain?  Perhaps not, mostly because many of us lead lives sheltered from those who are the least, the last, and the lost but that does not mean we can presume that, because things are nice where we are, all is well with the world.  There are many many Tiggers roaming the world today lonely and looking for a place of sanctuary and too often our response is to turn away from need instead of turning towards it.  We don’t want to look at the dark and dirty places but want to fill our magazines and screen with pictures of the glitzy and the glamorous to take our thoughts away from the pain of others.  But looking away from something doesn’t make it disappear.

One year our eldest son was in a Hang-Gliding competition in Perugia, Italy.  On a day when flying wasn’t possible the five of us went on a pilgrimage to Assisi.  In the cloisters of the Basilica there was a display of shoes of famous people with explanations about their achievements.  The boots that had climbed Mount Everest, the trainers worn by the Sprint Athlete, the shoes of a pioneering surgeon… and a pair of sandals washed up on a North African beach which belonged to an unknown child trying to find refuge by attempting a perilous journey across the Mediterranean Sea.

We may not have any Tiggers knocking at our door but if we open our eyes we will find them everywhere.  Will we welcome them?  Remember choosing not to puts our own heavenly welcome in jeopardy…

(St Ignatius Loyola)

To Do: 

1. The next time you pass a beggar in the street do not pass them by but instead offer some form of help. (Hint: in this cashless era I try to put a few pound coins in my pockets at the beginning of the week so that I can help when asked).
2. Is there anyone in your family who is no longer welcome in your home?  If you can make reparations, do.  If you cannot pray for them and for yourself, both of you are cherished by our Beloved.