Friends. Nothing better than an evening spent relaxing with friends old and new - especially ones where it's been a while since you have been able to settle down and have a good blether. Great to catch up, in fill and just be. Last night was such an evening and as it came to a close I thought to myself I really must do this more often!
I often miss retreatants when they go and my last retreatant was no exception. Working one to one for anything from 5 to 10 or more days builds an intense, committed relationship quickly, often with a high level of mutuality as worship is shared and experiences explored. Sometimes there are connections and connectedness based on comparable outlooks and aspirations that can be profoundly exciting but also especially challenging because it becomes even more important to preserve the person's space to pilgrim and journey. In a way there are similarities with good enough parenting.
I was caught this morning as I went over to air The Sanctuary ready for guests arriving later today by the most beautiful spider's web which intricately laced a large shrub, which against the pale light was almost a petrol blue. The dew still sat on the web and it took my breath away. The fragile beauty; the precariousness of it's position and the play of light on the crystal dew drops. Magical. A reminder of the fine balance of life:
In rare moments
when I am at home to myself,
my heart is still,
my pulse a psalm.
I know obscurely
I receive my life
from a power beyond me,
live by a life not my own.
The morsel of life
its ephemeral beauty,
its searing sorrow,
is on loan,
marginal to a greater agency
that always, all ways
engages the darkness
brings life from death.
My own gratuitousness
itself is a gift,
liberating me
to live in this moment,
to be at peace in the world
that, like me, is passing away,
to love it fiercly,
to let it go.
Bonnie Thurston
Amen.
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