A Work In Progress: Spring Update 2024

Hey Friends!

Well, as always time has passed far more quickly than my awareness, and we have now passed the longest day of the year and are well into summer! So it seems like a good time to do a Spring Update!!

At Easter Waverley Abbey Trust (WAT) held our first of what we hope will become an annual Sunrise Service at the ruins on Easter Sunday, followed by a Family “Egg Hunt” event on Easter Monday.

Both were well-attended (the Egg Hunt more than the 6am Sunrise Service, but hey, that’s understandable! 😉), although we discovered we’d need to factor in the large hill between the ruins and the sunrise, for our timings next year! We had a beautiful, simple service celebrating Christ’s resurrection from the grave, but the ‘sunrise’ arrive about 45min. ‘late’ due to having to crest the large hill which shelters the ruins.

The Egg Hunt was a brilliant event with upwards of 6-700 people attending, a petting zoo on the lawn, face-painting, the debut of “Honey Bee” the Clown, good food, sunshine, and of course - EASTER EGGS!

Considering that we’d originally been planning the event for 2-300 people, it all went remarkably well, even with the higher numbers, and for many families it was the first time visiting the property and everyone seemed to have a really positive time. ☺️

A slightly chilly Sunrise Service, waiting for the sun to rise...

Honey Bee the Clown, and the Easter Bunny himself, at WAT's Easter Egg Event

The day after the Egg Hunt I set off on my ‘Welsh Adventure’ of spending 4 weeks at Tymawr, home to the sisters of the Society of the Sacred Cross; an Anglican Order in the Church of Wales, of contemplative nuns who have practiced their rhythms of prayer, silence, and hospitality there for just over 100 years.

This stay was an absolute gift to me, and I enjoyed every moment of my time there! The five sisters who comprise the community, frame their days around five “Offices” of prayer throughout the day, with a schedule looking something like this:

6:30-7:00am - Holding silence in the Chapel

7:00-7:30am - Morning Prayer

7:45-8:30am - Breakfast

8:45-9:00am - Terce (start/midday of workday prayer)

9:00- noon - Work (I was put to work in the garden, weeding & tidying)

Noon-1pm - Daily Communion Service

1:00-2:30pm - Lunchtime ‘Dinner’ and a cuppa

2:30-5:00pm - Work (in the afternoons I did laundry and ironing)

5:15-5:45pm - Evening Prayer

6:00-6:30pm - Light Supper

6:30-7:45pm - Free/Personal

7:45-8:15pm - Holding silence in the Chapel

8:15-8:30pm - Compline/End of Day Prayer

I found there were some similarities to our community life at Waverley Abbey House, but was mostly reminded of the many years I spent summers at Timberline Ranch as a teenager and young adult, with their summer rhythms of Staff Devotions, Activity Blocks, Mid-day Chapel times, and evening Campfires…it suddenly made more sense that I enjoy these kinds of rhythms in my life…I’ve been practicing them in some form since I was 15yrs old!

The sisters were each full of personality and quirks, and from a surprising range of backgrounds and experiences! We held silence as a practice for the majority of the day, but were allowed to chat over a cuppa, or tasks, in the afternoon, as well as having a cheerful “Weekly Session” on Saturday afternoon to organise the coming week and spend some time together.

During my time there we also held a “Quiet Day”, or Learning Day, to which we had about 30 people attend, and the absolute joy of hearing from Dr. Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, who is the convent’s Warden, and good friend!

I enjoyed the simplicity of pace, even while there was a level of constant activity in that one was always either going to, or coming from the Chapel! And the Chapel was LOVELY! A beautiful space of natural stone, wood, and silence - except from the birds outside the windows!

All in all, I found it an incredibly fruitful time, leaving at the end of my time with a greater understanding and appreciation of who I am and how God has created me to function, and a greater sense of freedom in what that’s allowed to look like!

I don’t think the ‘Call’ to wear a habit within a cloistered Order is anywhere in my near future, but I did come away with the knowledge that the lifestyle of continual returning…to the Cross, to the Throne of God, to the nurturing of a ‘watching heart’, is definitely one I connect with and will continue to explore how to live out, whether that is at Waverley or wherever my path next takes me!

Tymawr House - near Monmouth, Wales

my little room there

View outside my window, complete with a "Grand Central Station" tree for the birds!

The garden I helped in

in process pic of the stone path I cleared, for most of the first 2 weeks!

The Chapel, stripped for the Easter season

The lovely sisters of the Society of the Sacred Cross (Top L-R: Sister Elizabeth, Mother Katherine, Sister Janet; Bottowm L-R: Sister Rosalind, Sister Joanna)

Stopped off for a lovely catch-up with Cousin Mary on my way back...

as well as joining the West Cheltenham HoP for a Pilgrimage Walk! (yummy pies, good conversation, and BIG blisters...)

As I returned to Waverley at the beginning of May, we went straight into our 3rd 24-7 Prayer Week, followed by hosting various ‘pilgrims’ from the Czech Republic, Germany, Australia, and the U.S; celebrating my birthday with a weekend visit to my Aunt’s, getting back into the ‘regular’ rounds of Touchpoint, Friday Prayer, Ancient Paths, and gardening here; and then also helping to host (and attend) some of our most recent Weekend Retreats.

I have also continued, to the best of my ability, the daily rhythm of prayer I experienced at Tymawr, which although it’s ‘only’ my own rhythm at the moment, rather than our full community’s, I have continued to find richly rewarding and ‘grounding’ as I continue to practice growing my own ‘watching heart’.

Upon my return from Wales I also did a bit of re-evaluation in regards to McLaren Massage. I have always been aware that for me the challenge is how to develop a personal business, that isn’t actually the focus of what I want to do. And so whether it has been my failings as a business person, or the financial climate, or simply people’s other commitments, I haven’t been getting as many clients as I’ve needed to allow the business to provide me the income I need. So I’ve decided to continue with offering my services to those who need/want them, but on a more casual basis, and I’ve also accepted some temporary Admin. Support work from the College here. So now I work 12hrs/wk for Student Services/Registry at Waverley Abbey College! This will likely carry me through the summer, and as they were desperate for some help, and I needed some additional income, it should be a “win-win” situation for us all!

Waverley Abbey ruins in springtime

24-7 Prayer Week Worship Evening

Some of our lovely "Monday Crew" who come each week

Most of the WAC "Onsite Team" - 'scheming & dreaming' together

Now, as we continue into the summer, I’ll be looking forward to house-sitting for a lovely couple nearby for 2 weeks, and to celebrating my cousin’s wedding in July; as well as having a flying visit from my sister-in-law, and a slightly longer one from my sister! (who is coming for the wedding). After that, there will be several more weekend retreats being run here at the House, the final Day Retreat for the Ancient Paths course, a few more ‘pilgrims’ from various places, and hopefully catching up with a few Swedish friends who may be passing through.

In and around that I will be continuing with my garden work, my Touchpoint connections, and my Friday Prayer involvements, as well as looking towards one or two community trips to France and Switzerland in September.

I pray and trust that you are each well, and as always, thank you for your ongoing love and support, and for reading this far! ❤️