Books and Heroes

This classic won the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 and has just been republished by Canterbury Press. Describing her observations and reflections over a year in Virginia’s Blue Ridge mountains, it is a poetic journal that includes fascinating science and questioning theology.

‘The creeks are an active mystery, fresh every minute. Theirs is the mystery of the continuous creation and all that providence implies: the uncertainty of vision, the horror of the fixed, the dissolution of the present, the intricacy of beauty, the pressure of fecundity, the elusiveness of the free, and the flawed nature of perfection. The mountains are a passive mystery, the oldest of all. Theirs is the one simple mystery of creation from nothing, of matter itself, anything at all, the given. Mountains are giant, restful, absorbent. You can heave your spirit into a mountain and the mountain will keep it, folded, and not throw it back as some creeks will. The creeks are the world with all its stimulus and beauty; I live there. But the mountains are home.’

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

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.

This book is now well-known and loved but if you haven’t read it yet I do recommend it.  It is her journey from a painful divorce to finding healing through pleasure and food in Italy, through the discipline of an Ashram in India, and through love in Indonesia.  I like the way it is written – personal, light and funny yet informative and facing hard issues head on. 

See also her follow-up book ‘Commitment’ which has a wealth of interesting material on marriage.

My second hero is Julia Cameron.  Her book ‘The Artist’s Way’ not only supported my creativity, but encouraged a sense of adventure and of life opening up to new possibilities when it had felt as if it was going down hill and closing down around me.  It is a book for artists of any description, but as she says, we are all artists, and creativity is a spiritual experience.  It is a workbook so requires you to apply yourself to specific tasks, but it is well worth it. 

The other book of hers which I loved is ‘God is no laughing matter: observations and objections on the spiritual path’, a book with a similar goal to the book I have been writing.  She says ‘It is my hope that you will find this book hardheaded, softhearted, and playful.’

See www.theartistsway.com