2 week Sabbatical update

By far my highlight was spending a couple nights here: Bethany Springs Hermitage
I highly recommend it, a one person hermit's cabin with everything you need. I sought solitude, quiet and the beauty of God's Creation and got it all. I walked, I prayed, I worshipped, I healed up some, I learned, I listened, I longed, I wept, I dreamed, I blessed, I got blessed . . . in short I loved it. For an extrovert like me, 2 nights was my limit by myself but I'm looking forward to another time like it in the future.

The facility was a part of The Merton Institute for Contemplative Living Contemplative living is something that I'm working on and is my learning edge coming out of this sabbatical. I am learning the discipline of "going monk" to protect my inner world if the external world is nothing but a storm. But that inner world is a garden that needs daily and even hourly tending, its not just for weekend or quarterly work days. The weeds are sneaky, gotta look for them daily and take them out by the root. Jesus did this well, this is how he slept on the boat during the storms. I want some more of that action.

Meditation is a matter of finding that inner "happy place", I found one at the Abbey of Gethsemani. Abbey
This place was beautiful and peaceful. It was what the Celts called a "thin space". A portal to the eternal space where God reigns, it was a land prayed over 7 times daily for over 150 years, the glory of God was a hushing peace to my heart. I sensed this same kind of presence in 2 other places on earth, 1) Northumbria Community, the ancient Celtic monastery in northern England and 2) the western wall of Herod's Temple in Jerusalem (wailing wall) The moment i stepped onto this land at the Abbey i was immediately reminded of those 2 places on earth. I will blog more on the monks life hopefully tomorrow and what I'm learning.

For now, I'm off to pursue some more monking in the real world.

peace to you,