Beauty for Ashes: Lessons from the North Yorkshire Moors and a New School Year

Beauty for Ashes: Lessons from the North Yorkshire Moors and a New School Year

During the summer holidays, I had opportunity to return home to Yorkshire with my three children. During our time in Yorkshire, we travelled to Whitby through the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. I took this photograph of the moors in the early days of the wild fire starting on Langdale Moor. Even in the early days of the fire and with a few miles of distance between us, the smell of the smoke stuck in the back of our throats and the fire was clearly visible.

The fire is now under control thanks to an incredible army of farmers, firefighters, and other locals who have selflessly worked around the clock to fight this fire. An area of around 10 square miles has been destroyed by the fire. This will impact wildlife, farmers, local businesses, and local people for many years to come. The below photograph was taken by the Whitby Photographer and shows a rainbow over the burnt moorland after the fire had been extinguished. Despite the fire, trees also remain rooted and still standing. 

These scenes reminded me of the following words from Scripture:

“To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes,

a joyous blessing instead of mourning,

festive praise instead of despair.

In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks

that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”

(Isaiah 61:3, NLT)

Tomorrow is the start of the new school year for my three children, with my son starting sixth form. In many ways, it’s a very normal annual event—three children starting a new school year. However, for us as a family, it marks a huge achievement, a huge success, and three resilient children. It marks the start of an academic year with just the four of us for the first time. Yet, there are so many positives and so much to be thankful for.

Just like the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors have been devastated by a wild fire that will mark and impact them for years to come, so too do our lives sometimes bear the marks of what we have walked through. But the fire has also created an incredible sense of community, has shown real heroes, and from it, there will be recovery. There will be new growth and, like in the photograph, there are rainbows, trees with deep roots remain standing, and there are glimpses of hope.

As Isaiah wrote: “To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair.”

Whatever season of life you’re currently in, and especially for those returning to school or college this week, we can be reminded that—like mighty oaks—if we remain rooted in God we can grow into something even better. There is hope!