Remember that the presence of the Risen Christ cuts through the darkness: ''Darkness is no darkness with you, the night sheds light like the day.''
When you do not understand what is happening to you and there are difficulties to be lived through, would you forget the inner joy offered by Christ who declared nine times over:
By faith, you are able to choose the road which mounts up towards serene joy, and you will build your dwelling in the lands of joyfulness.
''You jesus, my joy, you give rest for my heart.''
Perfect joy lies in transparency of heart. In order to shine out, such joy requires no less than your whole being. It awakens others to God: above all by what you are.
Let Christ sing in you the radiant gift of life, to the point that the springs of jubilation never run dry.
Perfect joy is in the eagerness of the one who runs towards Christ Jesus.
One day , seeing that Zachaeus had climbed up in a tree to watch him pass by, Jesus called to him ''Zacchaeus, come down! Hurry, for I have to stay at your house today.'' So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him joyfully.
]]>January
Sat 17 Control Film night at Jake and Gillian's
Wed 21 Jake and Gillian's
Wed 28 Nive's
February
Wed 4 Jem and Helen's
Wed 11 Steve and Niki's
Wed 18 Half Term break
Wed 25 Paul and Chantal's
March
Wed 4 Nive's
Wed 11 Steve and Niki's
Wed 18 Jem and Helen's
Wed 25 Paul and Chantal's
April
Wed 2 Glenfall House for an early evening picnic
Easter break
]]>October
2 Jem and Helen's
9 Steve and Niki's (Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement)
16 Nive's
(18 - 25 Nive and Paul in Israel-Palestine)
23 Charlotte's?
30 Paul and Chantal's
November
6 Jake and Gillian's – early start at 6pm for sparklers and bonfire
13 Jake and Gillian's
20 Jem and Helen's
27 Nive's
December
4 Steve and Niki's
11 Charlotte's?
18 Fuzzy Christmas meal (adults!)
We give thanks for places of simplicity and peace. Let us find such a place within ourselves. We give thanks for places of refuge and beauty. Let us find such a place within ourselves. We give thanks for places of nature's truth and freedom, of joy, inspiration and renewal, places where all creatures may find acceptance and belonging. Let us search for these places: in the world, in ourselves and in others. Let us restore them. Let us strengthen and protect them and let us create them.
May we mend this outer world according to the truth of our inner life and may our souls be shaped and nourished by nature's eternal wisdom.
Amen
Are we having the time of our life?
Are we having the time of our lives?
Are we coming across clear?
Are we coming across fine?
Are we part of the plan here?
Are we having the time of our lives?
Are we coming across clear?
Are we coming across fine?
Are we having the time of our lives?
Are we part of the plan here?
We have the drive and time on our hands
One little room and the biggest of plans.
The days were shaping up,
Frosty and bright.
Perfect weather to fly.
Perfect weather to fly.
Pounding the streets where my fathers feet still
Ring from the walls,
we'd sing in the doorways,
or bicker and row
Just figuring how we were wired inside
Perfect weather to fly.
So in looking to stray from the line
we decided instead
we should pull out the thread that was
stitching us into this tapestry vile,
And why wouldn't you try?
Perfect weather to fly.
We have the drive and time on our hands
One little room and the biggest of plans.
The days were shaping up,
Frosty and bright.
Perfect weather to fly.
Perfect weather to fly.
Pounding the streets where my fathers feet still
Ring from the walls,
we'd sing in the doorways,
or bicker and row
Just figuring how we were wired inside
Perfect weather to fly.
So in looking to stray from the line
we decided instead
we should pull out the thread that was
stitching us into this tapestry vile,
And why wouldn't you try?
Perfect weather to fly.
--------------------
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
Carl Jung
Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.
Carl Jung
The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.
Carl Jung
----------------
Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.
Aristotle
Self-knowledge comes from knowing other men.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Why should we honour those that die upon the field of battle? A man may show as reckless a courage in entering into the abyss of himself.
William Butler Yeats
No one remains quite what he was when he recognizes himself.
Thomas Mann
He who knows others is learned;
He who knows himself is wise.
Lao-tzu, Tao te Ching
Man stands in his own shadow and wonders why it's dark.
Zen Proverb
Life is a process of becoming, a combination of states we have to go through. Where people fail is that they wish to elect a state and remain in it. This is a kind of death.
Anaïs Nin
Men go abroad to wonder at the heights of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motions of the stars, and they pass by themselves without wondering.
St. Augustine
There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.
Nelson Mandela
I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I intended to be.
Douglas Adams
By all means use sometimes to be alone. Salute thyself; see what thy soul doth wear.
George Herbert
"Know thyself?" If I knew myself, I'd run away.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
To know what you prefer, instead of humbly saying "Amen" to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to keep your soul alive.
Robert Louis Stevenson
If a man happens to find himself, he has a mansion which he can inhabit with dignity all the days of his life. ~James A. Michener
One's own self is well hidden from one's own self; of all mines of treasure, one's own is the last to be dug up.
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
Oscar Wilde
"Know thyself" - a maxim as pernicious as it is odious. A person observing himself would arrest his own development. Any caterpillar who tried to "know himself" would never become a butterfly.
André Gide, Nouvelles Nourritures
The contemplative life is often miserable. One must act more, think less, and not watch oneself live.
Nicolas Chamfort
There is a great deal of unmapped country within us which would have to be taken into account in an explanation of our gusts and storms.
George Eliot
The simplest questions are the most profound. Where were you born? Where is your home? Where are you going? What are you doing? Think about these once in a while and watch your answers change.
Richard Bach
There are joys which long to be ours. God sends ten thousands truths, which come about us like birds seeking inlet; but we are shut up to them, and so they bring us nothing, but sit and sing awhile upon the roof, and then fly away.
Henry Ward Beecher
-------------------
]]>2. Praise: show your appreciation for what someone has done; you will make their day.
3. Spend time with your family and or close friends. These relationships are special; if distance is a problem do it by phone.
4. Discover meaning: every so often ask how best to use your gifts; life will have a fuller meaning as a result.
5. Live your values: establish habits that express your ideals, so you live your beliefs.
6. Forgive: Life is too short to bear a grudge or to seek revenge. Let it go and move on.
7. Keep learning: there is always something to learn or to be interested in and that helps to keep us young in mind.
8. Learn to listen: this can be difficult! It is a great gift to give to someone; it shows we are taking them seriously and not rushing to make our own point.
9. Create moments of silence in the soul: enjoy the joy of just being, incorporate this into your quiet time if it is not there already.
10. Transform suffering: those who have survived a tragedy and are stronger by result did not ask 'Who did this to me?' Instead they asked 'What does this allow me to do that I could not have done before' and so become agents of hope.
June
4 Paul and Chantal's - Iona feedback
11 Steve and Niki's
18 Jem and Helen's
21/22 Hales Holy Fool Pilgrimage weekend
25 Jake and Gillian's - Holy Fool reflection
July
2 Paul and Chantal's
9 Steve and Niki's
12 Stanway Fete
16 Summer BBQ - 5pm onwards, possibly up at the South Cerney Lakes