The Octopus’s Garden

Yesterday, at ‘The Seagull’ our Music for Wellbeing group sung the old Beatles song ‘Octopuses Garden’. It’s a good fun song about this lovely place of happiness and peace:

We would be warm below the storm
In our little hideaway beneath the waves
Resting our head on the seabed
In an octopus’s garden near a cave

This octopus’s garden is a place of safety and protection.

This week…

…Julie came to ‘Music for Wellbeing’ for the first time. She suffers with anxiety and panic attacks. She looked worried, sitting a distance from the group. Folk chatted to her… she started to relax… moved closer… more conversation. By the end she was integrated into the group

Charlie was back to Men’s Shed for the first time following cancer surgery and chemotherapy. It’s been an anxious time for him and his family. His delight to be back with his friends was evident by the size of his smile.

I was at the Jolly Sailors. Colin, a frequent visitor, looking the worse for wear, was leaving the pub. He got into the car of Lee, the bar-manager who took him safely home. I chatted to Lee after he returned. His genuine kindness and concern for Colin’s welfare was evident.

The Seagull, Men’s Shed, Jolly Sailors…  octopus’s garden… places where the vulnerable are protected:

Oh, what joy for every girl and boy
Knowing they’re happy, and they’re safe.

But. In each it’s the caring people, not the place, who create the peace and the joy…

A recently circulated quote from Pope Leo… describing the church like the ‘octopus’s garden’… emphasising people not place… concludes:

‘…So if you’re broken, if you don’t believe, if you’re tired of the lies… come anyway. With your anger, your doubt, your dirty backpack… Because this Church, as long as I breathe, will be a home for the homeless, and a rest for the weary. God doesn’t need soldiers. He needs brothers. And you, yes, you… are one of them.’