Off to Hilfield Friary tomorrow for our TSSF Area Team Retreat; I’ll be back on Friday sometime…
I am so fond of Hilfield – set deep in the skirts of the Dorset Downs, it really does feel like A Very Long Way From Anywhere Else, in Ursula le Guin’s words.
We’ll be staying in Bernard House,
the loveliest of the guest houses, I think.
It will be good just to be part of the rhythm of Friary life, to settle into these ancient patterns that are new every time, and to renew my acquaintance with Olive the Cat. More when I get back…
4 comments:
Have a wonderful time.
Thank you, Miffy... It will be good - despite a long wet drive ahead of us!
Hilfield was the first, and for many years only, monastery I had ever visited. A small group of us teenagers were taken there by Tim Selwood from our village in Minstead. I can't remember the monks name (it's been nearly 30 years)but it could have been Fr Sam who looked after us. I most vividly remember playing volley ball on what was a hot summers day - Fr took his habit off to reveal cut off jeans and a heavy metal t-shirt!
It's a place I've always wanted to return to, especially given it's new environmental focus. One day...
Praying that God blesses you richly on retreat.
He did! And thank you both so much for your prayers...
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