Several years ago we had a walking holiday in Cornwall. On one particular day we set off along the coastal path in search of St. Enodoc Church, hoping to find the burial place of the poet John Betjeman. For many years I had used his poem entitled Christmas in my Christmas Eve services – “…And is it true? And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all,/ Seen in a stained glass window’s hue, /A Baby in an ox’s stall? /The maker of the stars and sea /Become a child on earth for me? The history of Enodoc is a fascinating one. For many years the church was buried in the sand dunes, and to approach the church one has to walk across part of a golf course as the church is found next to the 10th fairway. Imagine, to get to church one had to go via a golf course – the very stuff of heaven for some of us! Betjeman writes a lovely piece about seaside golf. I wonder if he had St. Enodoc in mind? As summer gradually comes to an end I share this poem and trust as you read it you can feel the sea breezes, smell the wild grasses and vegetation, and hear the waves crashing against the rocks and the chorus of the birds. I plan to post a few more of Betjeman’s poems before I take another break during most of September.

Seaside Golf

How straight it flew, how long it flew,
It clear’d the rutty track
And soaring, disappeared from view
Beyond the bunker’s back –
A glorious, sailing, bounding drive
That made me glad I was alive.

And down the fairway, far along
It glowed a lonely white;
I played an iron sure and strong
And clipp’d it out of sight,
And spite of grassy banks between
I knew I’d find it on the green.

And so I did. It lay content
Two paces from the pin;
A steady putt and then it went
Oh, most surely in.
The very turf rejoiced to see
That quite unprecedented three.

Ah! Seaweed smells from sandy caves
And thyme and mist in whiffs,
In-coming tide, Atlantic waves
Slapping the sunny cliffs,
Lark song and sea sounds in the air
And splendour, splendour everywhere. John Betjeman.

Prayer:
Loving God, I rejoice
in the sounds and smells of summer.
Lord God, for all too many this season
has brought extremes of weather and tragedies
beyond measure. Even as I pray today many are bracing
themselves for the possible deluge from high winds and high tides
at a hurricane’s advance. Grant to all who suffer from the devastations
of fire and wind, rain and flood the strength to persevere and the
determination to build once again.
Loving God, you charge us to care for one another and to care for
the whole of creation. Forgive us when from selfishness we
have ignored the balance of nature and the friendship of one another. Amen.