The Circle of Life (1)

In the circle of life
It’s the wheel of fortune
It’s the leap of faith
It’s the band of hope
‘Til we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle, the circle of life

‘Good morning.’ Random lady this morning: ‘It’s good because it’s free and not taxed.’

The good morning, swans nesting on the local fen, tadpoles in our pond, blackbirds chasing the squirrel from their nest all remind me of the continuing ‘Circle of Life’.

Earlier this year we saw ‘The Lion King’.

Mufasa, Lion King of Pridelands, explains ‘The Circle of Life’ to his young son Simba:

Mufasa: Everything you see exists together in a delicate balance. As king you need to understand that balance and respect all the creatures, from the crawling ant to the leaping antelope

Simba: But, Dad, don’t we eat the antelope?

Mufasa: Yes Simba, but let me explain. When we die our bodies become the grass, and the antelope eat the grass. And so we are all connected in the great Circle of Life.

This Circle of Life is part of Noah’s rainbow promise:

‘As long as the earth endures,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
summer and winter,
day and night
will never cease.’    

But this song is not just the big world picture; it is personal.

Mufasa explains how, as part of that Circle of Life, one day Simba will be king after him.

For me it is about birth, growing up, marriage, work, parenthood, retirement, and, particularly in coronavirus-world, death.

In the last week I have had a number of conversations about Covid-vulnerability, cancer treatments, age and ultimately death.

I am grateful to Sheila Cassidy for recently reminding me that death isn’t the end of the journey but part of it – part of ‘The Circle of Life’.

Ref: ‘The Circle of Life’ by Elton John & Tim Rice

Genesis 8:22

I recommend ‘Sharing the Darkness’ by Sheila Cassidy. She writes well on faith, suffering and death from her experiences as a doctor working with the terminally ill in a hospice

(I think this is part 1 of 3 …)