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”
Tag Archives: spirituality
Identity
I have been doing a bushcraft course, with the assessment weekend coming up fast. One aspect of the course is natural history. We have had to learn to identify trees and woodland plants, as well as animal tracks and signs. Out and about in parks and in the countryside these past six weeks, armed withContinue reading “Identity”
Paris
It was a humbling experience to be in Paris last weekend when pilgrims arrived from all over the world. I had walked with the UK ‘Pilgrimage2Paris’ group for a day, between Burgess Hill and Brighton, and saw them off along the south coast the next morning. It was great to see them again at theContinue reading “Paris”
Pruning
I spent a happy day in the garden, pruning shrubs and doing a bit of general tidying. Here’s one of my big fuchsias before: And after: They love a good prune! I wasn’t as severe as usual. I normally wait for the leaves to drop, but this winter’s been so mild that mostContinue reading “Pruning”
Daybreak
I’ve just had a very timely retreat at Sheldon, in Devon. I spent much of the week putting off dealing with the big emotional issue that I’ll soon be leaving my present churches and moving on. But if you’ve got to deal with something tough, or try to avoid doing so, you may as wellContinue reading “Daybreak”
Acts of Tea and the IPCC
Yesterday’s publication of the IPCC’s report on climate change has left me feeling quite despondent. I expected to feel better – after all, it should feel good to be proved right. But, perhaps, deep down, it would have been nicer to have been proved wrong. It would have been good to have been told thatContinue reading “Acts of Tea and the IPCC”
Greenbelt
We all went to the Greenbelt festival last weekend and had a great time. Highlights for me were hearing Graham Kendrick singing – on our wedding anniversary – one of the songs we had in our wedding service; night prayer under the night sky, accompanied by a celtic harp; doing some Sacred Harp singing (beautiful!);Continue reading “Greenbelt”
Listen!
Today is World Listening Day. Sponsored by the World Listening Project and celebrating the birthday (80 today) of Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer, one of the day’s purposes is “to celebrate the practice of listening as it relates to the world around us, environmental awareness, and acoustic ecology” (from http://www.worldlisteningproject.org). Schafer is one ofContinue reading “Listen!”
The sound of drums
The garden is an oasis of peace and quiet. As I walk down it, often I can feel the stress falling away. When I had my little breakdown three years ago, the garden was a great source of healing. My habit most mornings is to sit down at the end of the garden with aContinue reading “The sound of drums”
Tourists or Pilgrims?
I watched a Ted talk by Satish Kumar, in which he contrasted tourists and pilgrims. He said that tourists always complain, but pilgrims always celebrate. As a race we’ve lived like tourists on the earth, but Kumar’s challenge is to become pilgrims. Having recently been a tourist in every sense of the word, I likeContinue reading “Tourists or Pilgrims?”
