Raphael's Park and Swans
by Sue
I remember going to Raphael’s Park in Romford when I was a child. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Swans on the lake - the way they moved along so gracefully I found it very therapeutic watching them, and we watched them, for quite a while.
When I was at the Senior School I had music lessons with a very good music teacher. He started my interest in music generally and I came to really enjoy classical music. Tchaikovsky’s piece ballet Swan Lake was one of the classical pieces which I enjoyed especially the Music to the Dying Swan. I loved to watch the ballerina dancing to it on a stage. I recall watching it on TV as a child and thought it was so beautiful. Every time I hear that music, I also remember Raphael’s Park and a beautiful day with my family walking along the lake edge and stopping to watch the swans swimming along.
Our Queen Elizabeth II actually owns the swans in England. According to the Official Royal Family Website, the Crown has held the right to claim ownership of all unmarked mute swans swimming in open waters across the Country since the 12th century.
And this reminds me of what the Bible says about all living creatures.
Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” (Genesis 1:20-22)
God has given us such beautiful things to see and to enjoy so let us give thanks and praise to Him for that. But much more we have His promise that having created us also he lovingly watches over us and has commanded us to also be fruitful and to receive His blessing.
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Genesis 1:27)