Daffodils

No other bloom has the same power to brighten up life in general, and the roadsides in particular, as we enjoy from the lowly daffodil.  Coupled with a beam of sunshine, these golden trumpets welcome the spring faithfully, year after year, with no effort from us.  I remember a season of my life when, every morning, I drove past a bank alongside the A12 in Essex where someone had planted a bagful of the bulbs to pick out the name of his beloved.  It was a matter of daily fascination to watch the development of  the message.  I hope she appreciated the compliment.

What significance do daffodils have for you, I wonder? Apart from the above, many incidents come to my mind, beginning in childhood.  Unsurprisingly, since I attended a church school, the local parson was keen to encourage the pupils to come into the church building, and we were 'invited' to go along after school one day a week during Lent, to hear him talk about the meaning of Easter.  Naturally we were easily bored, sitting in a cold wooden pew, and my attention was often drawn to the many vases of flowers - usually daffodils - that decorated the church.

Fast forward a few decades, to a time when a friend, newly widowed, recalled that her late husband had spoken of finding peace in a troubled time by attending a Quaker meeting, and announced her intention of visiting the one near her home.  I asked if she would like my company; understandably, she said that she would prefer to go alone the first time, but the next week I went along too.  A couple of weeks before Easter, the garden doors were open, and the daffodils were waving cheerily in a spring breeze and this, my first ever visit to a Quaker meeting house, has remained a firm marker in my memory.  Last spring, some thirty-eight years later, and having in recent years begun attending a Meeting regularly, I took the plunge and applied for membership.

One reason for changing my mode of worship in recent years, was an abrupt relocation to another part of the country.  In a new home, new area and very much finding my way in new surroundings, I searched for a convenient and welcoming place to worship.  Although the actual removal didn't take place until the early summer, the motivation to make this move came from reflection on a Bible story, all bound up with Easter and daffodils.  Now, every spring, I find myself looking back on all these events and realising how blessed I have been in what some might call my good fortune to enjoy this brand new life I have today.