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Rosey's Letter - November 2009 Dear Friends,
Early in November I shall be setting off with a group of 10 others from our Diocese on a two week study visit / pilgrimage to South India. We shall be led by Patrick Woodhouse, Precentor of Wells Cathedral, and his wife Sam., and the time will be spent in four places, exploring the practice of meditation in different faith traditions – Christianity, Hinduism and Zen Buddhism – and reflecting on how these different approaches to prayer and spirituality enrich our own understanding and practice. We shall fly to Bangalore, and spend time at a Christian education centre, then travel to the Hindu holy town of Tiruvalanamalie, where we shall encounter Hindu worship and life. We then move on to the community of Shantivanam, where the Benedictine monk Father Bede Griffiths lived and explored Christian faith within the context of a surrounding Hindu culture. Finally, we shall stay at a Zen Buddhist Meditation Centre in Tamil Nadu run by a Jesuit priest.
I don't know what effect all this will have on me! At the time of booking (a long time ago now) it seemed like a good idea. Now, I must confess to more than a little trepidation. There seems so much to do before I go, and it's a busy time, with the run-up to the opening of the Cross Tree Centre, and Christmas round the corner. And we have been told that we shall be woken VERY early in the morning (5.30am) for meditation. So this really will not be a holiday, in any sense of the word. Accommodation will be basic – a bucket of cold water suffices for a shower - and the food very simple. I hope it will do me good.....
It seems to me an appropriate time of year to go – not for reasons to do with climate (I hope the monsoons will be over, and the weather pleasantly warm) but because November is the month when we think especially of those men and women who have sought to walk in 'the way of holiness'. Normally we refer to them as saints, and on November 1st we shall, of course, celebrate our patronal festival of All Saints at Wraxall, as we give thanks not only for famous saints, but for all who have lit up the world by the light of their holiness – and especially those who have been an influence for good in our own lives.
What is the secret of such people? If you look at their lives, you will so often find that at the centre of all the good that they have done is a stillness – the realisation that to reflect the holiness of God in our lives, we have to spend time simply being quiet in his presence. This is not about saying long prayers or reading learned books of theology: it is, on the contrary, about doing nothing, saying nothing – just making space for God in lives which are otherwise filled with activity of all kinds. Those of you who have come along to the Julian Group held at All Saints' Wraxall on the second Monday afternoon of each month will know the great value of an hour of quiet contemplation. These are some words of Father Bede Griffiths, the Benedictine monk (formerly of Prinknash Abbey in Gloucestershire) who spent much of his life in the ashram (community house) where we shall be staying:
' The experience of God is not something that requires any special learning or ability. It is something that exists at the very centre of our being which gives meaning and purpose to our existence and which alone can answer the deepest need of human life. At our ashram we see people coming from all five continents and it is almost uncanny to find that they are all seeking for the same thing. They are all trying to find a deeper meaning in life, a deeper self, a deeper relation to God and humanity. They are, as we often say in India, trying to 'realise God'. For most people this capacity for depth has been almost lost. It has been so obscured that they are no longer aware of it. Particularly in the materialistic civilisation in the West, people have lost this dimension from their lives. They are so occupied with the world around them and so absorbed in its problems, pleasures and pains, that they do not have the power to get beyond. They have lost the sense of being open to God, to the transcendent. All the meditation groups throughout the world are composed of people searching for this deeper meaning in their lives....'
The saints were those who discovered this transforming secret – but it is something that ordinary people can experience too, if we only take time to find this stillness in our lives. I don't think it takes a journey to India either – and right now I'd just as soon find my stillness in North Somerset! But I guess it will be an adventure, and I look forward to telling you about it in another magazine..... With love, Rosey
An Invitation to you all......
You are invited to the Opening of
The Cross Tree Centre, Wraxall
in the 200th anniversary year of the construction of the original Village School given to the people of Wraxall by Richard Vaughan
and its Dedication by Bishop Peter Maurice Bishop of Taunton on Sunday 6th December 2009 at 11.30 am (following the 10.30am First Sunday Service)
We hope you will be able to join us for this special occasion
Refreshments -Hog Roast and Cider Cup - will follow the opening
R.S.V.P. Parking in church car park The Parish Administrator at the bottom of Wraxall Hill All Saints' Wraxall Parish Office or in lay-by on main road Bristol Road, Wraxall BS48 1LB E-mail: wandf.office@tiscali.co.uk By 22nd November
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A Special Concert given by BRISTOL PHOENIX CHOIR
in St. Mary Redcliffe Church Saturday 21st November at 7.30 pm
'ANNIVERSARIES & CENTURIES'
Purcell: O Sing unto the Lord Haydn: Harmoniemesse Handel: Utrecht Te Deum
Tickets available from Rev. Rosey (choir member) |