We have an edging of pebbles all around our garden – pretty browns and creams – mostly the same size – yet when you look closely they are all quite different.

I wonder where they came from – what tales they could tell. Are some of them from exotic places far away – or maybe even from more local places.

Have they been cut from large pieces – surely they must have been – put into machinery – shovelled – transported.

Funny to think that some of them that sit in my border could even have come from the same large piece – transported from the same place.

How many times have they been moved around from place to place – how many people have been involved in getting them from their original state to where they sit today in our garden.

My mind often wanders in this way as I look – observe – see the things around me.

Even as I look across the fields and meadows I wonder – wonder how long those poplars have stood sentinel around that far away field – how long have the many hedgerows produced their varying fruits – how many people – for how many years have picked those same fruits. What did they make with them – how did they make their jams – drinks – potions.

Then – there are the meadows and the fields – what animals have grazed here – brought up their young – grown old. What crops have been grown – how has the method of  planting and harvesting those crops changed.

Everything has a history – a tale to tell. Of course that cannot be communicated to me in ways I understand – unless I come into contact with those involved in that history.

It’s all so very fascinating – so much to reflect on – to wonder at – and for me – important that such history gets passed on – remembered.

How much more important it is to pass on our own history – to tell the story of our lives and the lives of those who have gone before us.

For me it’s so important that my children and grandchildren hear those stories – know that history – so – we pass on as much as we can recall – tell of places we’ve been – people we’ve met – and – most of all – we tell of the wonderful – challenging – and rewarding life of faith – that we’ve heard of – and seen for ourselves – the faithfulness and love of God in everyday life.

I’m grateful for my history – it’s what has made me who I am today – and I pray that – because of it –  life will be the richer for those who come after me.