The Burrswood Prayer Walk

All this beauty is of God

The Burrswood prayer walk is based on 10 specially selected hymns. The words of these hymns are displayed at different points around the garden. You are invited to pause at each point and meditate on the verses that speak to you most. The location of each prayer point is shown on the map overleaf. 1) O Lord my God…

2) When I survey the wondrous Cross

3) The Lord’s my Shepherd

4) Through all the changing scenes of life

5) Like a mighty river flowing

6) O thou who camest from above

7) For the beauty of the earth

8) Great is Thy faithfulness

9) Be still for the presence of the Lord

10) What a friend we have in Jesus

Throughout the centuries, gardens have inspired artists, poets, musicians and theologians. A well known poem by Dorothy Frances Gurney expresses the power of the garden to help us draw close to God:

God’s Garden Dorothy Frances Gurney

The Lord God planted a Garden

In the first white days of the world,

And he set there an angel warden

In a garment of white unfurled.

So near to the peace of heaven,

That the hawk might rest with the wren,

For there in the cool of the even,

God walked with the first of men.

And I dream that these garden closes

With their shades and their sun-flecked sod

And their lilies and bowers of roses,

Were laid by the hand of God.

The kiss of the sun for pardon,

The song of the birds for mirth –

One is nearer God’s heart in a garden

Than anywhere else on earth.

Sensing God’s Presence

Many of the psalms speak of God’s love displayed in the beauty of creation. Similarly, many modern hymns help us to reflect on the way in which we can know God’s presence with us in the beauty of all we see around us.

Gardens feed all the senses! We can see the beauty of the flowers and the many shades of colour in the trees; hear the song of the birds and the rustling breeze; smell the scent of roses and lavender; feel the softness of the grass under foot and the warmth of the sun on the face; and imagine the taste of the ripe fruits in the garden!

As you journey around the garden, take a spiritual journey, too. Allow God to speak to you… Pause often… to rest and to allow time to take everything in. Most important of all, feel at ease in God’s presence, and open your heart and mind to him. Jesus tells us not to worry or be anxious, for if his Father cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field… how much more will he care for us?

In our busy lives it is sometimes difficult to find time and space to be alone with God. We are often thinking about what we are going to do next, or what we should have done. The writer of psalm 46 gives us permission to stop and pause. Where better than in a garden to “Be still and know that I am God.”