A swan has to grow new feathers before flying off with its young. When it moults it becomes temporarily defenceless since its security lies in the strength of its wings. So nature has arranged that when swans mate and fertile eggs result, the birds moult at different times. One moults while the other sits on the nest and then they change places. But if the eggs are infertile or the chicks die, the parents moult together.
As the centuries pass the laws of the universe are being discovered and revealed in all their perfection and beauty.
I find it remarkable, for example, that we come midway in the scale of creation. The smallest particles are as many times smaller than us as the known universe is larger.
Some of our inventions are almost beyond belief. The strength of one transatlantic telephone signal, bounced via a satellite to a 'dish' on the other side of the Atlantic, is as tiny as the heat that would be received by the same dish if it was focussed on a domestic electric fire on the moon.
In the London Underground, my neighbour fished a cellular phone out of his pocket and made a very ordinary call. We can harness astounding technology to quite trivial uses. Yet I often yearn for a greater simplicity: to replace the desire for more with a profounder desire for less.
A prayer which means a lot to me says, 'Teach us to judge wisely the things of Earth, and love the things of Heaven.' Those who take this seriously often find spiritual insights as vital as the discoveries made in technology or science.
When I first began to search for God I had one of those arresting ticks of conscience which most of us recognize. I had cheated when playing tennis with my sister. I felt impelled to tell her, and I did. But it was only years later that I understood how much this incident had revealed about my character. I was so ambitious that I could not bear to be beaten by anyone at anything. I preferred to cheat. Honesty was the first step in turning towards 'loving the things of Heaven'.
Anger and insight
More recently I became worried about my temper. Many times I found myself unreasonably angry - especially with women in authority. I tried hard to stop but it continued. One day, after beseeching God about it, I had a sudden flash of insight.
I saw myself at the age of five. My mother was giving birth to my sister at home. She had a midwife attending her. I had a cold. To prevent infection, the midwife banished me to my room. Naturally I wanted to visit my mother and sister, but she refused. Suddenly I saw that ever since then, whenever someone got between me and where I wished to go, I lost my temper. With that -simple insight the anger vanished.
Naturally, in the material realm, our endeavours become ever more complex. But spiritual gifts, which depend on insight, remain very simple - though often far from easy.
The material beckons us on to want more, whilst the spiritual satisfies us with less.
The material respects and rewards ambition, the spiritual teaches us to love others.
The material offers the fulfilment of self expression, the spiritual a reflection of the God one serves.
It is the development of self versus the abandonment of self.
The challenge of our age does not lie just in the advancement of science or invention or material prosperity. It lies in whether we can match that with our spiritual search and commitment.
The happiest people seem to be those fortunate enough to have come to know and love God. They are free whatever their external circumstances - even when deprived of liberty, possessions and dignity.
Today this has an added dimension. We must curb our material aspirations for more with spiritual satisfaction with less. Otherwise we could become the generation whose insatiable appetites destroy the wonderful planet - swans and all - which we have temporarily inherited.
