I don’t know about others, but 2024 seems to be rushing headlong along its way and with much amazement I’m realising that it’s March already and spring is almost here!!
Life here feels like it’s going well, although it seems like there’s a bit of a theme for many of us (and perhaps yourselves?) in the areas of season shifts and transitions.
For me, it’s also been a ‘shift & shuffle’ season, but one that feels like it’s heading in a really positive direction.
Just before Christmas I had a good chat with Jill here, about how I was finding the balance with things, and feeling a strong desire to, possibly, shift what my focuses are. We agreed that I’d hand off the admin for both the hospitality aspect (administration of hosting our ‘pilgrims’) and the Prayer Room stuff (I’ve been unofficially organising and coordinating things for that since I arrived - updating prayer stations, themes, and keeping things tidy/stocked, etc), but I’d keep up my involvement with the international connections (helping coordinate a weekly prayer meeting on zoom which focuses on 24-7 leaders/communities each Friday, and then a monthly “Touchpoint” zoom which checks in more relationally with some of the smaller communities across Europe).
The other aspect has been that, from the very beginning of my involvement with Waverley, I’ve felt that much of the reason I’m here, isn’t necessarily to be “useful” 😂, but more to help ‘hold space’, through prayer for all the ‘big picture’ stuff that’s happening, but also simply for general relationships within the mix of things - basically, that my primary role is meant to be about supporting others, practically and spiritually, but not necessarily with being directly involved in the development of things.(?!?!) The other part of what I’ve felt I was here to do was to grow/develop in the areas of the wider 24-7 Communities Network, in supporting leaders and new communities, through relationship, encouragement, and practical networking/connecting/resourcing as needed…
So all this got chatted through before Christmas, and we decided that for Jan/Feb/March of this year I’d ‘do less and explore more’…which has been really good. It was definitely weird at first, shifting down a couple gears and letting go of some of the comfort & identity one gets from ‘visible’ work, and trying to learn and deepen some of my understanding and practices within the more contemplative prayer ‘world’, but I’ve found it really good and there seems to have been a direct correlation between that and the depths of, and my availability for, conversations and opportunities for mentoring/supporting people, both visitors, staff, and friends and connections throughout the movement.
In January I ‘officially’ joined 24-7 Prayer’s “Community Network Team” and at the end of the month I was able to visit a couple near Dublin who are originally northern Irish, but who moved down to Dublin 18mths ago to plant a community at a disused Presbyterian retreat centre, with 3 other couples…but in the last year, the other 3 couples have withdrawn, and most recently it’s been discovered that the Presbyterian church which owns the property are thinking of selling the property to a developer…😳. Practically, there wasn’t an awful lot I could do to help them during my visit, but it’s amazing how powerful a listening ear and some ‘presence’ can be, and I think we were all encouraged and strengthened through our time together!
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| The lovely Francis & Shelley Hughes, from the Lucan Centre in Dublin |
The following weekend I then went down to Cardiff to support Jill on a teaching day she was doing about Houses of Prayer, and then I spent a couple days doing a silent retreat at a convent near Monmouth - which was LOVELY.
Finally, in February 24-7 held the annual “24-7 Euro Leader's Weekend”, which is aimed more specifically at leaders/leadership teams of the European communities (versus the "everyone welcome" international/global gatherings in October), and which was brilliant. It was a fantastic weekend of reconnection, encouragement, and ‘equipping’ and so good to see people, hear how things are going, and then learn, encourage and pray with one another!
In the middle of February I also had 5 days of cat-sitting in a GORGEOUS house near Farnham, for a very sweet, but quite active, 18mth old cat named "Storm". He had a beautiful white belly and chest with a tabby saddle and head, and we both enjoyed curling up next to their lovely wood burner!
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| Storm the cat, being cosy |
So, what with one thing or another, I’ve had quite a bit of time away from the House, which has meant that the number of massage opportunities hasn’t been as abundant as I’d like. But then again, I’ve also found very little interest during Jan/Feb anyway, so we’ll see if March picks up!
And although all the ‘bouncing’ can be a bit tiring, I also enjoy it and find it life-giving, especially when it includes connecting with other communities! So in some ways it actually helps me ‘balance’ my need for ‘introvert time’ in the midst of Waverley Abbey life!
In March things should begin to settle down again, but then I’m actually planning to go back to the convent in Wales for the entire month of April! As Jill & I discussed this current 'season' of mine, which is about re-visiting what kind of work/role/place I hold here at Waverley, but also about my own personal development, we knew that part of the ‘experiment’ would be about me trying to take some space and explore a bit more extensively some of the more contemplative prayer practices and 'rhythms of life'. We thought it would be an interesting way to 'close' this season if I was able to go and spend some time within a convent context, to learn from and experience what these things can look like when people practice them more deeply than most people!
I think it'll be a really interesting and positive experience, and I'm hoping it will also help me learn to 'ground' these aspects of myself (which feel like a bit more than 'just' introversion), which will in turn (hopefully), help me to more fully step into the kind of work I want to be doing with 24-7 - i.e. supporting others throughout the community network.
It should definitely be interesting, at the least! The convent at Tymawr House lies in the beautiful Wye Valley, a little north of Tintern Abbey, and consists of 5 sisters, whose primary ministry aside from prayer, is hosting pilgrims and people wanting space and silence on retreat. They've also got quite a big vegetable garden which they tend, to help supply their table. The idea is that I will join them as an “Along-sider"; someone who follows their rhythms and 'earns their keep' through serving the community, thus enabling the person/me to have the space and time for further reflection and learning...sometimes people then find this leads to a full-on vocation and so return permanently, but many others just go for a season. I'll have to see if 1 month is 'enough' or if I'll feel the need to go back again sometime! (although seriously, I'd love to keep it as a place of regular retreat, regardless!!)
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| Tymawr House |
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| The Chapel |
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| View from my room |
So, quite a bit happening, and some interesting things coming up! It feels a bit weird to think I'll be spending April at a convent, but for most of my adult life I've felt this bouncing back and forth between a pull to silence, reflection, and the art of 'being' over 'doing, etc; but then also this long-term 'call' in the area of networking and supporting the 24-7 communities. And I have often found myself 'dismissing' or 'discounting' the more contemplative aspects of who I am, in the assumption that they are less important, or less useful, than the rest, but something about this season feels like it's to be a time of bringing various different 'parts' of me all together - the travel/mobility, the love of place and belonging, the love of silence and 'presence' with God, and the love and enjoyment of people and helping and supporting - and, what feels like 'finally'/hopefully, learning how they all fit together in a healthier way!
Some might call it a mid-life crisis or some such(!), but it feels like a remarkably healthy season, albeit not necessarily an easy one 'interiorly'!
Anyway, I think that’s me all caught up! (I never seem to manage regular, short, updates but only manage infrequent, long, and fairly intensive updates! But then again much of this I’ve only found becoming more fully developed throughout the past few months!)
Thanks for reading, and for continuing with me 'on the journey'! 💛
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