Impact0418
Impact0418
Impact0418
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instead, new and horrific versions took<br />
their place. Many of the heads are<br />
obviously dead and the tendrils sprouting<br />
from their eyes, nose and mouth could<br />
be worms as easily as branches. Or<br />
they could be the roots of a churchyard<br />
yew which were said to extend into<br />
the mouth of every sleeper in the<br />
graves. Many of the most horrific<br />
depictions can be found in<br />
the West Country where the<br />
Black Death first came ashore.<br />
Stories of a tree or flower<br />
growing from a corpse are<br />
very old. The dark growth of<br />
a churchyard yew or ivy remind<br />
us of death but also of regrowth<br />
and resurrection. In one early Christian<br />
legend, the tree from which the true cross<br />
was made grew originally from the grave<br />
of Adam.<br />
Many writers and illustrators have<br />
portrayed the Green Man as something<br />
ancient, pagan and magical. Arthur<br />
Racham’s illustrations give a glimpse into<br />
forests of crooked, watchful trees whose<br />
haunting images perhaps inspired a new<br />
generation to think of trees, not just as<br />
a source of timber, but more as living<br />
beings. JRR Tolkein, in The Lord of the<br />
Rings, takes us into a world where old<br />
and powerful Ents, half way between man<br />
and trees, lead lives of quiet wisdom,<br />
watching the eternal cycle of birth,<br />
flowering, death and renewal,<br />
over thousands of years. This<br />
same cycle is written of in the<br />
last chapter of Ecclesiastes:<br />
“Remember now thy Creator<br />
in the days of thy youth ... while<br />
the sun or the light or the moon or<br />
the stars be not darkened.”<br />
In the end, the spirit is returned unto<br />
God who gave it – returned to its starting<br />
point of sun, moon and stars that are not<br />
darkened. So, perhaps that is what the<br />
Green Man truly signifies – the endless<br />
cycle of life: Birth, Flowering, Death and<br />
Rebirth?<br />
Sylvia Bennett<br />
Good Friday<br />
30th March 2pm<br />
A Dramatic Passion Reading and Sermon<br />
with musical interludes by the Abbey Lane Singers<br />
Services<br />
April & May 2018<br />
Holy Communion:<br />
April<br />
Easter Sun 1st 11.00am<br />
Sun 8th, 22nd, 29th 11.00am<br />
May<br />
Sun 6th, 13th, 27th 11.00am<br />
Thurs 10th 7pm Ascension Day<br />
Evensong ( third Sun 3pm)<br />
15th April, 20th May<br />
Beauchief Abbey is<br />
Open Every Sunday<br />
10 Days of Prayer<br />
We will be open Saturday 19th May 2pm - 4pm for quiet prayer and contemplation<br />
All Welcome<br />
Our Services are based on the Book of Common Prayer, Refreshments are served afterwards<br />
email info@beauchiefabbey.org.uk www.beauchiefabbey.org.uk<br />
St Chad’s Church, Linden Avenue, Woodseats<br />
Church Office: Linden Avenue, Sheffield S8 0GA<br />
Tel: (0114) 274 5086<br />
Page 23<br />
email: office@stchads.org<br />
website: www.stchads.org
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