Hope for the flowers

I led a service with the theme Hope for the Flowers, inspired by the amazing colourful little book of the same title, by Trina Paulus. The message was about letting go of fear, about stepping out from the crowd, about breaking the hypnotism of our routine existence, and realising our true potential. I drew from the experiences of several characters: Stripe and Yellow (from Hope for the Flowers), Jonathan (from Jonathan Livingston Seagull) and Aqua (my name, from the parable of the creatures at the bottom of the river in Illusions).

Here are some extracts from the service: “I’m sure we all want to let go of our fear, to reach for our dreams, to be all we can be. But that’s all easier said than done. So what holds us back? So many things – our beliefs, our attitudes, our impatience. You see, realising our true potential is like planting a seed and caring for it – giving it the right mix of soil, compost, water, sunshine and love – until finally one day an exquisite bloom opens and takes your breath away for all its beauty and sweet scent. So, let’s think about those conditions which make for good flower growing, for cultivating the blossom of hope in your own life …

In conclusion, I quoted my characters on ‘hope for the flowers’: Jonathan (“To begin with, you’ve got to understand that a seagull is an unlimited idea of freedom, an image of the Great Gull, and your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip, is nothing more than your thought itself.”); Aqua (“I am no more Messiah than you. The river delights to lift us free, if only we dare to let go. Our true work lies in this voyage, this adventure.”); and Yellow (“Tell me sir, what is a butterfly? It’s what you are meant to become. It flies with beautiful wings and joins the earth to heaven. It drinks only nectar from the flowers and carries the seeds of love from one flower to another. Without butterflies the world would soon have few flowers.”)