JM 2012 August
Article
Gail Ballinger
Contemplation and Intercession
Genuine intercession is costly and makes heavy demands on time and spiritual energy. Not words but a heart and soul committed to God make intercession powerful.
— Christopher Bryant
I think the difficulty of praying in and for the Middle East is that words have lost their meaning … I think I would talk mostly of waiting upon God and quietly searching for his presence. Real prayer is offering what you can see and grasp of what is happening , however painful and beastly it is, and waiting on God with it, almost as if you have it in your hands.
— Alan Amos, Grass Roots Magazine 1983
Sometimes people who pray contemplatively have problems with intercessory prayer. These may be with ‘why?’ or ‘how?’: It can be with the idea of intercessory prayer e.g. ‘God knows what we need so we do not need to ask’, though we then recall that Jesus and the Christians of the New Testament asked in prayer. We may have a suspicious feeling that what we are doing is ‘press the right button and out will come the answer I want’: using God rather than loving and serving God. If most of our prayer is wordless then a ‘careful working out of what to ask for and what to say’ feels out of step with our contemplative practice. The Julian Meetings ethos and practice is to avoid in our Meetings anything other than contemplative prayer. In The Ideal Julian Meeting Hilary Wakeman says (and goes on to explain why) ‘no liturgy, no healing sessions, no prayers for peace – no matter how valid these things are in their own right, no matter how much of a common mind the participants may have about them. These things can be done as a separate group.’ But they do need to be done.
For some people intercession involves careful thought, expressed in words: contemplative prayer is wordless, but times of intercession are not. But this is not so for everyone including me. When I found prayer becoming a matter of ‘waiting’ – of contemplative prayer – my intercessory prayer became wordless, simply holding each person or situation before God. The intercession seemed too big for words to contain, but it did not cease to be intercession. At that time in my life I had long stretches of free, solitary time and I experienced a definite call to silent intercession. Not all my intercessory prayer is wordless, but mostly it is. There have been times of questioning e.g. ‘Am I too lazy to define the needs in words and work out what outcome to pray for?’ or ‘Am I just disorganised?’ I find I need to think about it carefully outside those times of silent intercession; it needs feeding just as contemplative prayer does.
So what might help? Some people keep lists of prayer needs; some use ‘post-it’ notes stuck in strategic places so their prayer flows through the day; some work out a diary with different themes each day. The World Council of Churches has an online international prayer diary www.oikoumene.org and Care Prayer has material at www.care.org.uk. I keep my Palm Sunday Cross on my kitchen noticeboard with a short list of people/situations I want to pray for under the arm of the cross. This is symbolic, but also a frequent prompt for a brief prayer. Then at settled times of prayer I can remember what is written under the palm cross and hold it all in the silence – or articulate it if I feel led to. I often use a holding cross during silent intercession. The kitchen list can be held with it. For a long time I prayed The Lord’s Prayer, sometimes elaborating each phrase, with times of silence in between.
Michael Ramsey (1904–1988), former Archbishop of Canterbury, wrote in his book Be Still and Know
“To intercede is to bear others on the heart in God’s presence…. In intercession therefore we dwell first on the loving-kindness of God in recollection and praise and thankfulness….. there intercession begins, dwelling upon God’s greatness and goodness and flowing from the act of worship… Not as a remedy for distraction but as a glorious prayer in its own right is the Jesus Prayer… which is the repetition again and again of the words ‘Lord, Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me, a sinner.’… As we repeat the words again and again we bring into our heart the many people and needs about whom we really want to pray. As the words proceed the heart has the people on it one by one. To intercede means not to address phrases to God about this person or that, but to bear them on the heart in God’s presence.”
Brother Ramon (1936–2000), a Franciscan friar, prayed The Jesus Prayer. Already praying the basic Jesus prayer for intercession, he began to use the healing variation, simply changing me to us or them as appropriate. He began with the basic prayer, then held those for whom he was praying, within the love of God, repeating three times for each form:
- Lord Jesus Christ/Son of God Let your healing flow down upon me (us/them)
- Lord Jesus Christ/Son of God Let your healing spring up/within me ( us/them)
- Lord Jesus Christ/Son of God Let your healing love enfold me (us/them
- Lord Jesus Christ/Son of God Let your healing power /flow through me (us/them.)
then returning to the basic Jesus Prayer.
“When you pray, you yourself must be silent. You do not pray to have your own earthbound desires fulfilled, but you pray: Thy will be done. It is not fitting to use God as an errand boy. You yourself must be silent; let the prayer speak.”
— Tito Colliander
Poem
Brenda Lofthouse
Contemplative Prayer
Silence
In the depth of heart
At the centre of being.
Silence
Making space
For God’s indwelling.
Silence
When mind and heart
Are at one—
In the present moment.
The present moment
When time and the eternal connect
In this eternal NOW
Let there be—Silence
Article
Anne Stamper
Gardens of the Heart [Quiet Garden Movement]
For you shall go out in joy, and be led back in peace; the mountains and the hills before you
shall burst into song, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands (Isaiah 55.12).
Several hundred people gathered on Saturday 28 April at Worth Abbey, West Sussex to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Quiet Garden Movement. Quiet Gardens and Julian Meetings have much in common and I was glad to be there to share their celebration. There are over 300 Quiet Gardens spread around the world, 180 of which are in the UK, and present to help to celebrate were people from all over Britain as well as from America, Canada, and Australia.
In the morning the main presentation was given by Esther de Waal, the author of many books of spirituality. Her subject was The Interior Garden, medieval monastic gardeners at work, an exploration of garden development as both image and reality. She looked particularly at Cistercian spiritual writing and practical design and at the emergence of the cloister garden in England and Europe. She described this as an enclosed space but not closed off, rooted in God, with the sky opened to the heavens and always the water of life in the fountain at the centre. She asked us then to imagine such a cloister garden in our own hearts with its dynamic stillness; at our centre there can be this open space where there is no
distraction, a place that we can visit no matter how busy the world around us.
She was followed by Rev Philip Roderick, the Founder Director of the movement, and also the Bishop’s Adviser in Spirituality in Sheffield diocese, and Leader of Contemplative Fire. He spoke about ‘Ways into Quietude, earth and heaven, pause, movement and sound.’ He had much to offer to a Julian! He was described in the programme as ‘Anglican priest, percussionist, educator and writer’ and on this occasion his percussion skills were demonstrated on the Hang drum, a most unusual instrument developed from the steel drums of the West Indies. He reminded us of how Psalm 81 invited us to make music and play the drum, which he then did, but this ‘drum’ produced a most ethereal sound. He then encouraged us to look, to listen, to hear, to smell, and to increase our awareness of being and allow ourselves to become aware of God. He moved us into silence when‘People gather together to worship, heaven dips down to earth’.
In the extended lunch break, whilst we enjoyed a delicious buffet, we could meet and talk together. I learned a lot from people I met about how the Quiet Gardens they looked after were used. We also had the opportunity to visit the Quiet Garden in the grounds of the Abbey. As we walked down the hill beyond the Abbey there were distant views of the South Downs and when we finally arrived at the garden we found it in a wooded dell with a stream running through: a lovely spot – but on a cold damp day few lingered!
In the afternoon Philip Roderick continued his talk. Finally we heard from three people who have cared for their gardens for a number of years, including one couple from Australia. It was an interesting day – how about a Julian Meeting in a Quiet Garden on a lovely summer day?
“Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31).
Article
Mary Grimes and Kath Bryant
A Quiet Celebration (Darlington Quiet Day)
25 years ago St Cuthbert’s Church, Darlington, held a Lent group in which we explored contemplative prayer in the Christian tradition. Following on from this, the Darlington Julian Meeting was formed in March 1987 by the then vicar the Revd Leslie Gready.
In 2012 we continue to meet in each others’ homes on the third Thursday of the month: we take turns to lead and our silence usually lasts for 40 minutes. We then have tea and biscuits and chat, then close with Compline (omitting the Creed).
We have been there as support in times of stress for many members over the years. Although started as an Anglican group we now also have Roman Catholic, United Reformed, and Quaker members and Leslie’s widow Beryl is still a very active participant.
Silver Jubilee
Twenty five years on we thought it appropriate to celebrate this milestone with a special day at St. Antony’s Durham.
The rest of this report is written by our newest member who joined us at this event, so the torch is handed on yet again.
St. Antony’s is an oasis of peace and tranquillity in the centre of Durham, with a beautiful garden. Both house and garden have magnificent panoramic views of the Cathedral and the Castle. Formerly the vicarage of St. Nicholas Parish Church, it was developed as a Priory under the auspices of the Society of the Sacred Mission. It became an Ecumenical Spirituality Centre in 1998, resourcing the whole of the North East region.
The Quiet Day was facilitated by Deidre Morris, our National Co-ordinator and was entitled ‘What’s in a Word?’ Deidre inspired us with her talks on ‘Words for communication’; ‘More than a word’ and concluding with a session looking forward to Easter. The talks were delivered in the beautiful octagonal chapel with its altar fashioned out of the trunk of a tree and decorated with inspirational brass plaques. The altar had been decorated with flowers and candles and fabric to support our contemplation and was certainly something to behold.
The rest of the day was spent in quiet contemplation in the Priory library and rooms, or outside in the garden with its fountain and spectacular views. A nourishing lunch was provided which we shared in silence, enjoying the presence of others in the stillness as we ate and drank. Deidre had supplied drawing and colouring resources for those, like me, who wanted to express themselves on paper or simply facilitate the awareness of the presence of God by colouring in or making marks on paper.
This was an anniversary event but was my first experience of a Julian Meeting and has inspired me to attend my local Meeting on a regular basis. For me it was a restorative, healing and ‘settling’ experience where I felt very close to God and to my fellow human-beings. I am grateful for the existence of the Julian Meetings in the town where I live and extend anniversary greetings.
Article
Moya Briggs
Woodfield Julian Meeting
In Autumn 2008 I went on retreat to the Franciscan Friary in Alnmouth, Northumberland. It was there I noticed a small card about Julian Meetings and contemplative prayer. I felt drawn to find out more.
Enquiries revealed that the nearest JM meeting to my home was too far away, but it was suggested that perhaps I could start a new group. I’d been recently diagnosed with a medical condition which would gradually reduce my independence, so I mulled this over, feeling very daunted. After reading the JM booklets in the starter pack I decided to take the plunge. Two dear friends were keen to join in; and the vicar and his wife were encouraging. What a blessing this has turned out to be!
We started with our little group of three and have gradually grown to nine members drawn from six differerent churches of three Christian denominations. We meet monthly at my home. All our meetings follow the basic format:
- A short Biblical text
- A brief reading from a devotional classic or writings on contemplative prayer
- Music to lead into the silence
- 20 minutes silence
- Music to lead out of the silence
- A short closing prayer
- Group reflections, sharing what God has shown us in the silence.
On arrival we gather in the kitchen, while the one leading the meeting prepares the sitting room – the music and the visual setting. Although this is quite homely we feel it is appropriate to prepare a sacred space for Sacred Silence.
We have found that shared leadership has widened our horizons; the times of shared reflection have been enriching. This has overflowed into our personal prayer lives and our devotional reading.
These Julian Meetings are providing an opportunity for an oasis of prayerful quietness together in the world’s desert of frantic activity and a surfeit of words.
So glad I took the plunge! With many thanks.
Article
Rugeley JM Members
Rugeley Julian Meeting
We held our May meeting on Monday 7 May. To us Contemplative Prayer means we empty our minds of the daily events; sit together in silence; and soak up the peace and tranquillity of the time shared together.
We usually have a focal/visual aid. As at that Meeting we were travelling with our Lord from Easter to Pentecost (the journey) we had a candle (the light!) and a piece of blue cloth with some shells (the meeting on the shore at Galilee).
We welcomed each other, and those who were not able to be present, and friends long past – especially as the next day, 8 May, is the day when the Church of England commemorates Mother Julian.
We had a prayer, and readings from pages 35-36 of ‘Mother Julian, Woman of Norwich’ and then the first part of ‘The Prayer Stool’ from the April Magazine, and ‘Deep Blessings’ from page 5 of the same Magazine.
We went into our 30 minutes of silence with a piece of music (track 9) from ‘Celtic Embrace’ and came out with Track 15. We then used the second part of ‘The Prayer Stool’ and a further reading from Mother Julian before joining hands and sharing the Grace.
We all feel this is such a lovely way to embrace the silence, and share together. It is important to all of us, and often we say we could have stayed longer in the silence.
Article
[unstated]
A Snapshot of the Julian Meetings at 40
It would be wonderful to make a collection of photos of many of the Julian Meetings that exist in its 40th year. With digital cameras so widely used now it should be easy for many Meetings to take just one or two shots that are particularly ‘them’. We are not thinking so much of a ‘group photo’, though that might be appropriate in some instances, but of something distinctively ‘you’. Perhaps the place where you meet, or a visual focus you’ve used that is significant, or a Quiet Day picture, or…
If they are digital photos they can be e-mailed to Anne Stamper with the subject heading ‘JM Meeting Photo’. Please say where and when the photo was taken, what it shows, and which Meeting it is from!
We may put some pictures up on the website, or use them in publicity at events. We hope to have quite a lot available for the anniversary event in May next year. If you are not willing for them to be used in this way please indicate this clearly when you send them or we shall assume it is OK. If you can only send a traditional photo don’t worry, just send them and they can be scanned in.
Article
[unstated]
The Julian Meetings Resources List
GUIDES TO PRAYER, MAINLY CONTEMPLATIVE PRAYER
BABBS, Liz
Into God’s Presence: listening to God through prayer and meditation.
Zondervan 2005 £8.99 Kindle e-book £5.99 188pages
A practical book with an emphasis on incorporating meditation into your life throughout the day, rather than a ‘once a month marathon’.
BILL, J Brent
Holy Silence: the gift of Quaker spirituality.
Paraclete Press 2005 £12.99 147 pages
Silence – the Quaker sacrament. Includes practical guidance.
CRAIG, Phillippa
Living from Within.
Grail Publications 1979 £1.50 64 pages, pocket sized
Includes 35 pages of ‘lead-ins’.
JAMISON, Christopher
Finding Sanctuary
Phoenix 2007 £6.99, audio CD £14.99, Kindle e-book £4.99 192 pages
‘How did I get this busy…?’
A series of practical steps, built on silence and the wisdom of St Benedict. Website: www.findingsanctuary.org
The JULIAN MEETINGS
Some Basics of Contemplative Prayer
An 8 page introduction to contemplative prayer. An ideal place to start.
LAIRD, Martin
Into the Silent Land: the practice of contemplation
DLT 2006 £10.95 176 pages
A wise and thought-provoking guide to contemplative practice.
LEWIN, Ann
Love is the Meaning: growing in faith with Julian of Norwich.
Canterbury Press new ed 2010 £8.99 67 pages
Includes a good presentation of contemplative prayer & Julian Meetings. Aims to help readers fulfil Julian’s hope that as a result of thinking about her experience, their love for God will grow.
LLEWELYN, Robert
Prayer and Contemplation and Distractions are for Healing.
SLG Press £5.99
NASH, Wanda
Simple Tools for Stillness
Grove Books Spirituality Series 2005 £3.95 28 pages + e-book
A simple introduction to being still with God. ‘Lead-ins’ appended.
NORMAN, Andrew
Learn to be at Peace: the practice of stillness.
SLG Press 2010 £2.00 28 pages
Andrew Norman invites readers to share his experience of learning to be still during a period of convalescence.
PRITCHARD, John
How to Pray
SPCK new ed. 2011 £9.99, Kindle e-book £6.36 110 pages
A refreshing approach to all forms of prayer. Offers plenty to try, including soaking in silence. A practical, helpful handbook.
ROBINSON, Wendy
Exploring Silence.
SLG Press 2002 £2.50 22 pages
A compact but wide-ranging exploration of the many aspects of silence.
ROHR, Richard
Everything Belongs.
Crossroad Publishing Co N.Y. 2003 £12.99 155 pages
The gift of contemplative prayer and contemplative living are examined through parable, biblical texts and personal experience.
RYRIE, Alexander
Wonderful Exchange
Canterbury Press 2003 £7.99 128 pages
A practical guide to silent prayer – described as a ‘two centred enterprise’. Would appeal to beginners and to those more experienced in silent prayer.
Prayer as Self Offering
SLG Press 2007 £1.50 22 pages
SILF, Margaret
Taste and See
DLT 1999 £10.95 251 pages
Guidance on exploring ways of coming closer to God, ourselves and each other in prayer, including ways of coming to inner stillness and developing reflective living.
SMALL, Simon
From the Bottom of the Pond
Circle Books £7.99, E-book £6.99 2007 90 pages
The forgotten art of experiencing God in the depths of the present moment is explored clearly, simply and with refreshing insight.
RESOURCES FOR QUIET DAYS
BIBLE GATEWAY
Online concordance plus several translations of the Bible including NIV, J B Phillips, The Message. Passages can be traced and also down- loaded to include in quiet day handouts. www.biblegateway.com
FLEESON, Mary
Multi Coloured Contemplations: a pocket sized colouring book.
Lindisfarne Scriptorium, 2nd ed 2011 £2.99 32 pages
A mixture of very complex, easier and simple outlines to colour in which can be used by all ages as a way of relaxing, meditating and focusing on God. One of a series of books.
www.lindisfarne-scriptorium.co.uk
LEWIN, Ann
Seasons of Grace: inspirational resources for the Christian year
Canterbury Press, new ed 2011 260 pages
A new edition of Words by the Way with added new material. Includes ‘Planning and leading a quiet day’ and ‘A quiet day for carers’.
PICKERING, Sue
Creative ideas for quiet days.
Canterbury Press 2006 £14.99 132 pages
Practical suggestions for planning a Quiet Day, with themed resources and liturgies.
QUIET GARDEN TRUSTwww.quietgarden.co.uk
The RETREAT ASSOCIATION
Offers many resources online including Planning a Quiet Day – single page free download from www.retreats.org.uk
COLLECTIONS OF PRAYERS, POEMS, REFLECTIONS
These can be good sources for ‘lead-ins’
ASHWIN, Angela
Heaven in Ordinary.
McCrimmon 1991 £3.95
Contemplative prayer in ordinary life.
Wait and See.
CD rom McCrimmon 2008 £28.69
Meditations for praying together in stillness. Powerpoint presentation Includes material from two small out of print books: Wait and Trust and Wait and See.
Woven into Prayer: a flexible pattern of daily prayer through the Christian year.
Canterbury Press new ed. 2010
‘Daily short flexible liturgy and a ‘quiet space’. ‘A truly refreshing book, contemplative and practical.’ (The Franciscan).
ASKEW, Eddie
Music of the Wind.
The Leprosy Mission 1998 £3.99 103 pages
A 9th book of poems, prayers, paintings, drawings, focussing on King David. For details of his other books see www.leprosymission.org
DE WAAL, Esther
A Retreat with Thomas Merton.
Canterbury Press New ed 2010
A 7-step way to make a retreat alone alongside Thomas Merton.
FRUEHWIRTH, Fr Gregory OJN
Words for Silence: a year of contemplative meditations.
SPCK 2008 £10.99 206 pages
GARNAAS-HOLMES, Steve
Unfolding Light: a daily e-mailed reflection rooted in a contemplative, creation-centered spirituality. www.unfoldinglight.net – to sign up
HAMMERSLEY, John
Psalms of Life
downloadable from www.psalmsoflife.com
The JULIAN MEETINGS
Going into Silence…and Coming Out
The Julian Meetings £1 – as above. 8 pages
MARSH, Pat
Silent Strength
available from Pat Marsh Tel: 01785 254485 or e-mail: pat@marsh999.fsworld.co.uk
Whispers of Love
Onwards and Upwards 2011 £5.95 Kindle e-book £5.46
Poetry for stillness and meditation. http://patmarshpoetry.blogspot.com/
MORLEY, Janet
The Heart’s Time: a poem a day for Lent and Easter
SPCK 2011 £9.99
Reflections on well known – and some less well known – poems.
MERTON, Thomas
Dialogues with Silence: prayers and drawings.
SPCK 2002 £10.99 208 pages
Precious Thoughts: daily readings from the writings of Thomas Merton
DLT 2011£10.99
NOUWEN, Henri
The Only Necessary Thing.
DLT 2000 £10.95 hardback 224 pages Anthology of his writings on prayer, including some of his most moving prayers.
Also The Henri Nouwen Society e-mails a daily meditation (free) to those who register www.henrinouwen.org
RUPP, Joyce
The Cosmic Dance.
Orbis Books NY, 2010 £12.99
Meditations, poems, colour drawings on cosmic themes. A feast for both the eye and the soul.
Out of the Ordinary Ave Maria Press, Notre Dame, USA 2000 252pp
Prayers, poems and reflections for every season.
SILF, Margaret
Landscapes of Prayer
Lion 2011 £9.99 92 pages
Explores nine landscapes of prayer – garden, mountain, seashore, forest, river, urban jungle, desert, cave, night sky – with superb colour photographs, readings and questions for reflection.
SKINNER, John
Echoing the Silence.
Gracewing 2009 £7.99 119 pages
Explores the experience and meaning of silence.
STEPHEN, Sr Mary CRSS & BOEX, Sr Petra OSB
A Journey into Prayer
DVD McCrimmons 2006 £20.82
16 superb images e.g. stillness, listening, longing, trust (also available as posters): three ways to view – with or without spoken meditations to lead into silence.
The TAIZÉ COMMUNITY
An ecumenical community of brothers known for their meditative music and for their work in introducing silence to young people.
Short daily and longer weekly meditations online: www.taize.fr
Collections of articles from THE JULIAN MEETINGS MAGAZINE
Circles of Silence ed. Robert Llewelyn
DLT 1994 £9.95 162 pages
Circles of Stillness ed. Hilary Wakeman
DLT 2002 206 pages
Out of print – used copies on Amazon or Abe books websites
SPIRITUAL CLASSICS
Some of the writings from across the centuries are helpful. For example: Julian of Norwich (1342-1416), from whom the Julian Meetings takes its name because of her teaching on prayer, was a solitary and wrote Revelations of Divine Love. The revelations were 16 visions and her meditations on these mystical experiences.
The Cloud of Unknowing by an unknown English medieval writer, shows the development of prayer and contemplation as a discipline.
Teresa of Avila was a 16th century Spanish mystic.
St John of the Cross was another Spanish mystic who has been called the supreme poet of the mystical tradition in Christianity.
Abbé Henri de Tourville was a 19th century French spiritual director; his letters to his penitents are full of insight and encouragement.
It may help to look at the translation before you buy as some editions
are better than others. These are some versions that JM members have found helpful, including three series of spiritual classics which are good introductions to each writer and good resources for ‘lead-ins’ to silence.
SERIES
Enfolded in Love Series
DLT 2004 £3.50 72 pages
Brief selected extracts from spiritual classics for daily reading over two months. Includes Enfolded in Love and In Love Enclosed (both Julian of Norwich), Lamps of Fire (St John of the Cross) and the Cloud of Unknowing. Pocket sized. Line drawings.
30 Days with a Great Spiritual Teacher Series; edited by John Kirvan
Ave Maria Press £6.99 106 pages
A daily morning reading, phrase or word to carry through the day and night prayer from the works of great spiritual teachers, including All Will be Well (Julian of Norwich); Let Nothing Disturb You (Teresa of Avila); Peace of Heart (Francis of Assisi); True Serenity (Thomas à Kempis); Where Only Love Can Go (Cloud of Unknowing).
Classics for Everyone Series; translated by Elizabeth Obbard
New City Press, £5.95 65 pages
Titles include The Cloud of Unknowing, Teresa of Avila’s Way of Perfection, John of the Cross’s Living Flame of Love.
De Tourville, Henri
Streams of Grace: a selection of the Letters of Direction
Continuum 2005 £8.99
Julian of Norwich
40 Day Journey with Julian of Norwich; edited by Lisa Dahill
Augsburg Books, USA 2008 £7.99, Kindle e-book £6.81
The Complete Julian of Norwich; translated Fr. John-Julian OJN
Paraclete Press 2009 £21.60 490 pages Includes commentary
Revelation of Love; translated by John Skinner
Gracewing 2004 £7.99 Kindle e-book £6.81
Introducing Julian, woman of Norwich, by Elizabeth Obbard
New City 1995 £7.50 142 pages
Good on what life might have been like for Julian.
The Julian Centre in Norwich is a good place to visit if you can. They have an excellent library and a good stock of books etc for sale.
Websites: www.juliancentre.org or www.friendsofjulian.org
MAGAZINES AND OTHER SERIAL PUBLICATIONS
Grove Spirituality Series
These booklets cover a wide range of spiritual and religious topics.
The Julian Meetings Magazine
3 issues a year in A5 standard and A4 large print versions.
Subscription £6 (UK) from The Julian Meetings, 18 Bright Street, Bradford BD14 6QJ
Quiet Spaces
3 issues a year from the Bible Reading Fellowship.
UK £16.95 p.a. www.brf.org.uk
Retreats Magazine from The Retreat Association
Annual £6.50 from bookshops or www.retreats.org.uk Lists retreat houses and the retreats they offer plus articles and book reviews.
OTHER USEFUL WEBSITES NOT LISTED ABOVE
www.labyrinth.org.uk www.renovare.org
www.sacredspace.ie www.silenceinthecity.org.uk www.themercysite.milestonenet.co.uk
www.prayasyougo.org provides a daily meditation for your i-pod
Poem
Andrew Rudd
Dwelling
I am not there I
am not then
I am nowhere else but
here.
I am not them I
am not you I
am myself.
I rest from doing,
need not achieve. I
do not ask
I do not need. This
is the place for me
to be.
Here I am.
Article
Marjorie Humphreys
More on Mindfulness
I was interested in the article on mindfulness. I live on the island of Anglesey and work in Bangor. Every week I walk through The University of Wales Psychology Department and see many leaflets and posters relating to an ongoing research project that has been running for the past ten years on ‘Mindfulness’. For more details on it do go to the website at www.bangor.ac.uk/mindfulness.
My thoughts are mixed relating to the subject. As a counsellor trained in the Rogerian Person-centred approach, I am cautious about the CBT approach. Much of the CBT training is not counselling but ‘therapy’ and is very limited. However, it is and can be very useful as a tool to help people.
The other difficulty I have, after talking to a lecturer from the Psychology Department, is that to mix religious or spiritual practice with therapy in this particular way is not appropriate. This is mainly because in therapy there is an expected outcome or goal to be achieved in relation to changes in the mind, attitutude or behaviour. If we are approaching silent contemplation from a religious or spiritual path, then there are no expectations or goals. I know that changes do take place resulting from silent contemplation but that is not the aim.
I have no problem with people using techniques or skills in order to improve their lives, but I do think we need to be aware of the motives that are driving this very popular practice at the moment. I would be happy to join in a debate on Mindfulness.
Article
Brian Draper
Do not be afraid to miss the bus
It’s hard to listen to silence without drifting away on a sea of thoughts. We find it almost impossible to sit still and be quiet, without our minds going into overdrive. And when they do, they drag us away from the present – taking us back in to the past or forward into the future, but rarely, if ever, letting us settle into “the now”.
Our fierce inner momentum pushes us constantly away from “here”. The world of “more, bigger, faster” pulls us seductively over “there”, where we think we will be better off. Our mind races and whirrs. But for our own sake, we have to stop trying to get somewhere else, fast. Otherwise we will forever be carried away by our thoughts and never learn to settle.
Imagine, for a moment, that each thought you have is like a bus that pulls up outside your house or office. You have two options: you can notice that the bus is there, run outside, jump aboard and let it take you somewhere (anywhere!) far away from here.
Or you can notice that it’s outside, but stay where you are and listen to it drive off into the distance, before all goes quiet again. Don’t be afraid to miss the bus.
If we let the bus drive off instead of jumping on it, we give ourselves permission to remain a while longer in the present. And once we become a little more used to being there – here, in fact – then we find it’s a place we can sink deeper into, a richer place entirely to explore.
Try it. Try sitting quietly and being still. Nothing more.
Once you’ve reached a point of stillness where you feel relaxed enough just to notice your thoughts, like the buses coming and going, you’ll be in a better position to listen to the stillness and silence that lie behind and beyond, your thoughts.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Andrew Rudd • Nowhere Else But Here: contemplative poems that flow from silence and lead into silence
2012, £5.00
This slender volume of poems is illustrated with black and white photos taken by the poet. Inspired by ordinary objects and situations, the poetry, with a lightness of touch, invites the reader to go deeper. The poet’s faith and hope shine through each poem with a gentle minimalism which allows the reader to take the thoughts and images presented into prayer or silence.
It is not surprising that Andrew Rudd has been a member of the Julian Meetings and gives retreats on poetry. I have returned to these poems many times and will be using some of them at our Julian Meeting.
Book review
Karen Woollard
Janet Morley • The Heart’s Time: a poem a day for Lent and Easter
SPCK, 2011, £9.99
Taking time, with the steady beat of the heart, Janet Morley leads us into self-reflection with the gentle rhythms of this excellent selection from four centuries of poetry. Though not all the poets are Christian, they are all sensitively engaged in examining life and living, death and dying, coping or not.
Janet Morley has carefully grouped seven weeks of daily poems to help us contemplate the important moods of Lent and has given each poem a short homily to highlight its significant aspects. The biblical references help round out the background if a reader wants to follow up a particular theme. Each homily ends with a simple question or action to consider: Do you recognise the feelings this poem describes? or Have a walk and look closely at trees.
Janet Morley’s thoughtful introduction suggests how the book can be used by groups or individuals and for personal study and contemplation. I found her choices of poems and the accompanying discourses stimulating, enlightening and companionable. For Julian Meetings the academic analysis of some of the poems might be too didactic (though well informed) as a few poems are discussed for example, through their rhyming schemes with such detail that each person would need their own copy of the book. With forward planning a leader could prepare their own discussion on the poem to avoid this.
For myself I definitely want my own copy of this book and have already commended it to friends. The Heart’s Time has been a genuinely beneficial guide to my own Lent contemplations and I recommend it strongly for a daily study.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Magdalen Lawler • Christ our Morning Star: the art and inspiration of Sieger Koeder
Pauline Books & Media UK, 2012, £7.99
Readers may be familiar with Sieger Koeder’s amazing paintings, which are available as posters and post cards and often used on retreat. Readers may also know the name of Magdalen Lawler, a Sister of Notre Dame, who regularly gives retreats often on creative themes and who is no mean artist herself.
These two have come together with the Jesuit priest, song- writer and musician Tom McGuiness SJ, to produce a beautiful and deeply spiritual book. A total delight, it shows the pictures in stunning colour reproduction, with details and close-ups as well as the whole picture. The series starts with creation and then follows the life of Christ: his nativity, life, death and resurrection.
Magdalen Lawler provides a commentary on each picture. She picks out with an artist’s eye the nuances of colour, and the detail of content and design, as they relate to the biblical text of the scene represented. Four related poems, written by Tom McGuiness, divide the narrative into sections.
The biography of Sieger Koeder at the end of the book states that he “dips his brush into the very essence of the Gospel and with colour describes the wholeness of human life”.
These paintings, rich with theological insight, invite the reader to go deeper, sometimes painfully deeper, but it is well worth the journey.
The four poems are set to music on a separate CD “Exultet & All will be well” available from Pauline books and media.
Please check Pauline books website http://www.pauline-uk.org for more resources including a CD rom of 36 Sieger Koeder paintings.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Brian Draper • Less is More. Spirituality for Busy Lives
Lion Hudson, 2012, £7.99
This book jumped out at me as I browsed in the spirituality book shop recently. The author’s name was familiar – Brian Draper regularly contributes to “Thought for the Day” on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
The creative use of layout and typography make this an inviting book to read, with short bite-sized chapters grouped in sections with alliterative titles: Quest, quality and questions, Silence, space and setting, Rhythms, renewal and reconnection.
This is a profound and practical book for individual devotion or for a study group. It invites and inspires the reader to stop, listen to the inner voice and rediscover the sacred wonder of living in the now. The author states as his aim “I don’t know about you, but I desperately want to start living fully before I die and I am ready to try anything, however counter-intuitive.”
Brian Draper encourages the reader to take it slowly: “Chew. Ponder. Dream. Inhabit the metaphors. Apply the stories. Listen to your soul.”
Instead of ending each chapter with questions, there are resolutions of the Less is More Manifesto to ponder over. The whole manifesto is printed in full as the final chapter. It ends with the words: “I will leave the nest. I will set out. I will trust my instinct. I will fly”.
I recommend this inspirational book which invites us to try a simple, profound and spiritual journey of transformation to discover God in all things and truly rediscover our soul. There are passages which could be used as lead-ins to silence.
Book review
Wanda Nash
Joan Chittister • Welcome to the wisdom of the world – and its meaning for you
Eerdmans ( USA), 2011, £10.99
Many of this author’s wide readership will welcome her recent paperback. In it, Joan Chittister develops her special approach to illuminating our personal relationships with the world around us and with God. What especially resonates for me in this book is her suggestion that our love for Him can be enlarged by some of the teachings and scriptures from other World Faiths. Our own concepts of the Love of God are not replaced by them, but at certain times our convictions can be renewed, refurbished, and re-invigorated by the ancient insights offered by others.
Given her established appeal, the author is perhaps naturally wary about the degree of inclusivity she can recommend; practical interfaith worship is barely mentioned. The general text of the book is dotted with stories from non-Christian belief systems: the conclusions she draws from them sometimes feel moulded by an ease of general experience of life that is American, in contrast to our very English realism. An Epilogue is included that offers synopses of the history and teaching of the five main world Religions; these are [necessarily?] brief.
On the whole this book centres on me and my response to my life and to my God. Joan Chittister is recognised as being a woman of great experience and wise counselling, and here we certainly have a courageous approach to tackling personal problems. For some, there may be a bit too much about ‘me’.
A sentence towards the end of the book sums it up: she writes ‘We grow, then, into that purpose [eventually learning to touch others] ourselves: to care for those around us that, caring for one another, we may all live secure in the knowledge that we are safe and wanted, necessary and loved.’ A personal dream, perhaps, but optimistic and rare in its actual accomplishment.
Although, for some, this book may fail to live up to its enticing title, it has to be one of the best of its kind.
Book review
Yvonne Walker
Margaret Silf • The Other Side of Chaos: breaking through when life is breaking down
DLT, 2011, £10.99
Admitting that transitions are never comfortable, this book explores what lies on the other side of chaos: what it is like to go through upheaval; forced to leave our comfort zone; to enter or resist a new phase of our life. Where are hope and meaning in all this disruption? Is it really calling us forward into deeper freedom? What does “forward” actually mean?
This book explores the many questions around what change means for us and how we might live transitions creatively and constructively, challenging us to acknowledge and trust that God is right there in the chaos. We don’t actually have to fix the chaos, it is a sacred reality, the very thing needed for a new creation to begin. Maybe the transitions in our life are really births, full of potential, allowing something new and special to break through.
Using personal examples and biblical stories, particularly the journey of the children of Israel, Margaret Silf shows how apparent chaos and destruction are not the final word. God’s spirit can and does prevail to bring forth new life. Interspersed throughout the book are questions for reflection, making this a good book for group discussion. Full of down to earth practical wisdom, Margaret Silf accompanies us through the uncomfortable transitions of life, offering us images and questions to ponder with the message to adapt, survive and transcend as we journey with hope and courage. The final chapters include a reflective commentary on the Exodus story and a list of scripture references about change and transition to accompany us on our journey.
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