Archive - 2010

Symbols of hope

Yesterday was the solstice, the shortest day of the year.  It hid behind the tatters of snow and the fear of more.  It hid behind the focus on Christmas and the bustle to be ready.  Silently, mysteriously, we have now moved back from the brink and are inexorably heading into the light, although it still feels the same, although the cold still hugs us like a friend.
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Wonderland

The snow has come.  It is thick and bright, clothing the garden, trees and roads in quietness.  A gift of white, of pure essence, poured in whirling skies of wet kisses.  It transforms everything, makes the world its own, even gathering on thin twigs and coating the sides of trees.  Each bush has its own arrangement, its own sculpture.   read more »

Holding on

It is cold and still, the air is damp and chilled.  It is dark in the garden, the sky a deep blue backdrop to the black branches.  The sun when it rises has found a different spot to bless with its favours, a new edge of earth to slowly stroke then climb from its shoulders. 
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Soaking in silver

There is such love abroad this morning.  We are soaking in silver, silver wisps of cloud, silver moon that has strayed into the day on a pale-blue, ice-blue sky.  The frost has charged every surface with moon dust so it sparkles silver back to the sky like a mirror.  But the sun that seems silver as it tastes the edge of the day shines a rosy gold everywhere it looks.   read more »

The hush of fog

All is hushed.  The still air has turned to pearl, wrapping the distant roofs and trees in its haze.  The fog gives everything an ethereal quality, filling vistas with a fuzziness that looks warm like a cashmere blanket but that pecks at my cheeks with a damp chill.  We are living in thin cloud, muffled from urgency, a fairy land of muted light that shines with a pale intensity.   read more »

Othona, West Dorset

Othona is a community near Burton Bradstock that is founded on the principle ‘Rooted in the Christian heritage, open to the widening future’.  It is the place I go for refreshment, for inspiration, for retreat.  It offers:

An Experience of Community to carry home as a practical blessing in everyday life.
Retreats & Breaks because we all need refreshment for body, mind & sprit.
Workshop Weekends with plenty to get hands & eyes active, minds alert, hearts open.
Inner Work from mindfulness & meditation to understanding personality types.
New Light on Old Truths since faith & wisdom traditions are always facing new challenges.
Family Holidays where fun meets learning & we all build community together.
Out & About in beautiful West Dorset with outings, walks & wildlife galore.

Visit www.othona-bb.org.uk

Tess Ward

Another hero of mine is Tess Ward.  Tess poetically and imaginatively holds the interface between our Christian and pre-Christian heritage, writing and leading prayers, liturgies and celebrations that link us with an earthy spirituality.  As a modern-day envoy of the Celtic tradition, she honours the influence of seasons, of the natural world, of our bodies and within them all the immanence of God. 

Her book is both fascinating and beautiful.  Each month has an introduction that describes the historical and current ways we celebrate the festivals that fall at that time of year.  There are then poetic prayers and reflections for each day of the week.  It is lovely to use yourself, or as part of a group.

The Celtic wheel of the Year: Celtic & Christian Seasonal Prayers

by Tess Ward,  published by O Books, 2007.

Rebreathing

Here I am, alive in my beloved garden with my book and pen, my heart like a sponge soaked in sherry but ready for more.  I am witness to the morning, I have lain by its side as it slumbered and have now come to live in its light.  It rolls over me, the darkness is scattered through the garden, gathered in pockets under trees.  I can’t see the sun but the darkness is diluting,  read more »

Dawn

Up at the dawn of the dawning, the yawning of the day.   It is a sallying forth to come down here as the mornings sharpen and darken.  The heat and light in the house hold me womb-like and the garden is strange territory.  But here I am, in commonality with the trees and leaves, in community.  We all sit with sleep in our systems, the warmth or cool of night in our blood,  read more »

Surely not I? (2 Timothy 3.1-9)

Could it be me
who would let you down,
who would live
in the house of your name,
the shape of your desire,
without the heart of your spirit,  read more »