Weekly Reflection – In All Things Thee to See

Many years ago, while at a conference in Salisbury, I was lucky enough to take a trip to Bemerton, a small village just outside the city. We sang in the small church and were shown round the Rectory where the early sixteenth century Welsh poet and priest, George Herbert, had served and lived for three years until his death in 1633 at the age of forty. Herbert was not ordained until he was in his mid- thirties – very late for that period. He had spent the years until his ordination in various public roles –as a university public orator, a man about court and a member of parliament.

The Church of England commemorates George Herbert’s life and ministry each year on 27 February, which falls next Thursday. In marking Herbert’s life in this way, we are able to give thanks for a man who moved away from the glamour of a career in London to dedicate himself to the needs of those entrusted to him as a parish priest, and to his writing. He was much loved by his parishioners and revered by poets who came after him in the seventeenth century. His fellow Welshman, Henry Vaughan, described him as ‘a most glorious saint and seer’.

One of Herbert’s many gifts as a writer was to communicate the essence of the Christian faith in a way that was always accessible but never trivial. This is especially apparent in his hymns, the first verse of one of which reads:

Teach me, my God and King,
In all things thee to see;
And what I do in any thing
To do it as for thee.

In times such as ours, to see God in all things is a challenging task to set ourselves. But in times such as ours, it has never been more important.

With love and prayers,
Dean Simon