Tag Archives: connection

What do we want?

Another of my new year resolutions (well, it was made at the Greenbelt festival last August, but who’s counting?) is to get back into collective climate activism. What with Covid and moving to a different part of the country and taking on a demanding job and whatnot, I had dropped out. I went to myContinue reading “What do we want?”

Spirituality in an Ecological Crisis

It’s not enough to know we’re in an ecological crisis. You have to feel it. It’s a question of the story you tell yourself about who you are. It’s a question of meaning and of spirituality – a question of being who you are in relation to all the life (human and otherwise) that is.Continue reading “Spirituality in an Ecological Crisis”

Who am I?

I would consider myself to be both a patriot and an internationalist. I love the English countryside and some of our great cities and I cheer for England on the rare occasions that I watch international sport. But I also find other cultures fascinating. I’ve enjoyed travelling in other countries and experiencing different food andContinue reading “Who am I?”

Living in the woods

I’m just back from a short week in a cabin in a small wood in Devon. It’s part of the wonderful Sheldon retreat centre (Society of Mary and Martha) where I’ve been for luxurious retreats in the past and where we go annually for a clergy family holiday. The cabin is pretty basic, although itContinue reading “Living in the woods”

Planes, trains …

At the end of August, Mrs Mabbsonsea and I celebrated 25 years of marriage with a short trip to Berlin. We first met there in 1989, spending two weeks on the same volunteer team. It was just three months before the Berlin Wall fell in November that year and we have wanted to re-visit forContinue reading “Planes, trains …”

At one with nature at any price

Yesterday I set out on a hike from home, over the Downs, to a campsite in the woods about 12 miles away. It was always going to be quite a challenge as I haven’t walked that far with a big pack since my legs were younger, but I liked the idea of doing the roundContinue reading “At one with nature at any price”

Dartmoor

I spent a few days on Dartmoor, camping in a small oak wood up the valley of the River Erme. Piles Copse is an ancient woodland, once part of a farmstead. It’s a beautiful and peaceful place, ascending from the river up into dark, impenetrable, boulder-strewn woodland, filled with oaks so old they have beards.Continue reading “Dartmoor”