This was the first prayer ever taught us, Long before we could understand Or be aware of our need for prayer.
Standing in ragged rows, eyes closed, we began, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’ But through a small misunderstanding This became a little prayer for ‘Our Arthur, who art in Devon.’
Still, even not knowing Arthur, We were happy that our prayer Put that little intrepid wanderer Into such safe and loving care.
Deep in the dense, humid forests of West and Central Africa, you can find the elusive forest elephant, one of the two members of the African elephant species. The actual number of wild African forest elephants remains uncertain due to their shy nature, but we do know that they are critically endangered species and have declined by an estimated 86% over 31 years.
The main reason behind the decline is due to poaching, which is frequent, widespread and intensive, especially in Central Africa.As well as elephant poaching, habitat loss and land-use change for agriculture and other land uses have resulted in fragmented habitats and increasing human-elephant conflict leading to losses on both sides. Today, African forest elephants occupy around 25% of their historic range, scattered among 20 different African nations, mostly in Gabon and the Republic of Congo.
We remember those days Full of sunshine and tenderness, When the lovely hours Of shadow and frost bitten glory Seemed as if they would never end.
When love made the ordinary glorious, Sending us forever blazing Into whatever came next. Wide awake to any small beauty.
Closing our eyes to shadows lounging On the edge of evening, Denying darkness of any description, Wanting only to remember The colour of flowers, The brightness of morning And all of us together.