We loved our holiday in Norwich this summer.
Our holidays have developed a pattern over the years and since we no longer have children to entertain, usually we are able to relax in the mornings with some serious reading and peruse all these books we keep buying and never have time to read. In Norwich we found some nice open-air cafes to do this in the sunshine; the beautiful, newly opened Forum, or the garden of the Assembly Rooms.
Then we go on the tourist track for a few hours. We climbed the hill to the very impressive Norman Castle, meandered along the Wensum, took the tour bus and 'did' the Cathedral. Then we're generally exhausted and have to have another wee sit-down again at another coffee stop and relax into our novels - or sleep!
Ok. It's not exciting. But we are now far too old for anything of that sort. And this slow pace suits us very well.
My wee bit of excitement was following in the steps of Julian, an anchorite attached to the church of St Julian in Norwich in the 14th century. Actually, it would be fair to say that she didn't take many steps for me to follow, since she was actually sealed in to a little room and never left her little cell again till her death many years later.
But I like Julian. Reading her scripts, I am impressed by her 'normality'. She is just like us. Not a great saint who did wonderful things. But an ordinary woman who just wanted to live her life close to God. And the writings she left are an encouragement to ordinary people; an encouragement to live ordinary lives in touch with an extraordinary God and in doing so, find a groundedness that we often seek but lack.
So Peter and I are hosting a day about her writings. And having lived with her for so many weeks now, I am really looking forward to it.
Come and join us if you can.
Saturday 13th September 10am - 4pm.
So July and August have been a washout! Summer is over before it began!
And yet in Fife, the sun is shining. Someone came the other day and asked if the sun always shines in Anstruther. You know, it ususally does! We are so fortunate to live in such a lovely area.
There is a down side, however. Tractors. And combine harvestors. And retired tourists appreciating the scenery at 20mph.
But on the other hand, there is the sea breeze, the glorious colours, the great big skies, the translucent quality of the light..............
I love it here.
Saturday 23rd August
Next week I am planning a day’s retreat on the Enneagram and Prayer. Now I really thought that hundreds of people would be rushing to the door, banging to get in. But not so, apparently. We offered this day in the spring and it is the only time we have had to pull the plug and postpone. And yet so many love the Enneagram and want to use it further in their lives.
I am really keen that this time we go ahead. The Enneagram gives us such penetrating glimpses into our spirituality and can inform our prayer and our inner journeys. On a personal level, I really, really want to share this day with as many as possible. So if you are planning to sit in an armchair and read a novel next Saturday, do please reconsider and come to Anstruther!
We would love to see you!
Yesterday I, along with a couple of hundred other people, had a lovely day at The Bield at Blackruthven. They were celebrating their 10th anniversary of being a place apart for retreat and healing.
The weather forecast was wrong and we enjoyed beautiful sunshine all day allowing us to picnic in the garden, walk the labyrinth, chase treasure – or was that only for the children? – and spend idle hours catching up with friends or making new ones.
I was there to do two ‘bite-sized’ workshops on the Enneagram and Spirituality. Both sessions were full of curious ‘spiritual seekers’ who gave me a very easy run and made the day such fun, and also a great pleasure. I count myself fortunate to have the Moderator of the General Assembly in the first workshop and the Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane in the second. They endured me very well!!!
The Bield is a very special place. If you haven’t yet spent time there then I thoroughly recommend it. It is a ‘thin’ place where Heaven and earth seem to blend and the presence of God is so real. The place to go and pray when there are decisions to be made. Or to enter a ‘desert’ place for a time of refreshment. Or even just for a rest. The food is good, the people are nice and the beds have really good quality pillows that just seem to induce deep, deep rest. Zzzzzzzzzz……….
Another introductory course for those of you who can't make it to Callander on 6th September. Using the Enneagram as a tool, discover the person God created you to be, with all your challenges and gifts. Explore your motivation for living. How do you want others to see you? How do you defend yourself from the opinions of others? What makes you unique?
This course will be facilitated by Dorothy Neilson. Lunch and snacks will be included in the price of £40. A bookstall will be available. No previous knowledge of the Enneagram is necessary. Email for a booking form.
Hope you can come!
"Do not ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive".
Someone gave me this quotation recently. No idea who originally said it, but it is quite a statement! I see so many people who have some idea of the kind of person they most admire and set out to become just like them. Nothing wrong in copying goodness, of course. But at the day of judgement God won't be asking me why I didn't become a world famous, ground-breaking entimologist (whatever that is) but he will ask me why I didn't become a better me with my own finely honed skills. I am to work hard to become the best I can be with the skills and personality He gave me at birth.
Sometimes we become attached to mourning what we can't be. Better to rejoice in what we can be. And then get out there and be the very best we can be. God sees that person already. This is the person He watched grow in my mother's womb all these years ago. Now He really wants to see me (us) flourish and become whole.
Quite a thought!
The Enneagram and prayer.
Saturday 23rd August
10am - 4pm
For any who already know their Enneagram type.
This day’s retreat will be around finding your own way of praying according to your Type.
Don’t worry that you will be sitting in a holy huddle praying all day! You won't!
We will talk a lot, teach a bit, share occasionally,
have lots of individual space to walk, sit, nod off, whatever you need.
Oh, and pray, of course! – but always on your own!
Just as our personalities are all different, so are our spiritual temperaments. Some ways of prayer just come naturally to us while others make us bored or restless and just seem plain old boring. This course could revive your prayer life. Or, at the very least, prove interesting!
As well as presenting the ideas and concepts, there will be plenty time for you to just enjoy a day of quiet where you will have the chance to just 'be'. A day to quieten, see your life in perspective and have time to share it with God.
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We would love to welcome you to Sacred Space at Linne Bheag in Anstruther.
Dorothy Neilson .
Please email if you are interested in joining us.
Because of holiday times replies might be late!
Cost is £40. This includes lunch, snacks and materials.
We will send you directions if you need them.
Hello again! Remember me? I hope you have missed me this last few weeks.
I have been gone for much too long. A few days working in the big city, a few days holidaying with my sister and our elderly, frail Mum, another few days working away……..that’s how the time slips past, un-noticed.
Yes, I know, laptops travel. But this time I decided to leave it at home, risking the wrath of my email correspondents world-wide. And, of course, I came home to an avalanche of emails – mainly from Mr Tesco and Messrs Amazon and Co. And I did actually miss the old computer.
I hadn’t realised how much we rely upon our emails and blogs to keep in touch with what is going on in the world. At least, I missed it. Maybe you would disagree. But I like to know that you are all out there. I like to know what you are up to, what your life is like, what’s the talk of the ‘steamie’, your opinions on all things great and small.
So keep in touch. Bloggers, keep on blogging. I may not comment very often, preferring to be a fly on your ceiling, but I do enjoy knowing you in cyber-space. And I promise to keep you up-to-date with my current opinions and thoughts. That assumes a lot, however. When did I last have an opinion worth airing??!!??
I will return to Winnie the Pooh’s Thinking Spot! Hmmmmm. Think. Think. Think.
Again I am preparing our Celtic liturgy for Saturday. I came across this wee gem of a prayer which Sister Barbara used at The Orchard a few months ago. Just reading it makes me feel stronger. I hope you like it. It makes for a great start to the morning!
I arise with the light of morning,
Called to journey where I may;
Here as witness to the birthing
Of this new and wondrous day.
I arise and face the sunrise
With the wind upon my face;
Know God’s breath divine within me
Grounded in this sacred place.
I arise with the cloak of healing
Tempered by my time of rest;
Called to journey with the Spirit
On this sacred, healing quest.
Rain!!!
We have a very nice garden here at Linne Bheag – thanks to many years of tender loving care by someone else. We take no credit for it.
We have also had such a long, dry, beautiful spell of weather.
And all this time we have been threatening to buy a garden bench to replace the ancient, broken one on our little terrace. This week I went on-line and ordered a ‘glider’ - not just any old bench, you understand. It arrived while I was on a baby-sitting mission to Edinburgh and remained in its box till this morning when Peter and I felt strong enough to face the multiplicity of arms, legs, screws, nuts and various bits of plastic all of which needed to be assembled in the correct order. The sun was shining.
Everything boded well. We identified the right number of everything. And hey presto! Bad temper took over, fingers became thumbs, screws jumped out of hands and got lost in the grass…… and I phoned Gareth. God bless Gareth! Son-in-law number 2, living here in Anstruther, ‘comer-to-the-rescue’ in all things practical. I heard (or maybe just imagined I heard) him grumping down the line as I explained our predicament to Jane and she agreed to come – or rather to come with Gareth, because Jane herself would have been no use whatsoever.
But it was Saturday. They were just up. They would be there eventually. We went back to our accursed ‘glider’ and …..well, cursed, I suppose. At least I did. I did remark to Peter that it was just as well he didn’t know any bad words, or he would have been using them too!
But, in spite of all the trauma, we got there. And by the time Gareth and Jane appeared with the biggest toolbox I have ever encountered, the last screw was ‘gliding’ into place. Jane and I drank our morning tea whilst sunbathing and ‘gliding’ in the morning sun.
Then they left, Peter went off to Glasgow. I got my book out and another cup of tea. Great. A day to myself on the terrace on a beautiful sunny day.
You know the rest, don’t you????!!! But I console myself in the knowledge that the fish ponds desperately needed some rain to top them up. So do the roses. And our glider will still be there next week when we return to balmy summer days!
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