land ahoy

Date: 23 January 2006 21:10:00

'You must be pure brilliant at this meditation lark then. God that was heavy gaun the night. Ma mind wis birlin.'
'Some days it's like that,' says Jed. 'Best to accept it.'
'Suppose so. It wis hard gaun at first, never thought ah'd get the hang ae it. It's just that ah thought ah wis gettin better, know?'
Jed laughs. 'That's fatal.'

Anne Donovan, Buddha Da

I have finally pinned down a retreat. I'm going to Pluscarden Abbey for a couple of days at the start of March, with Strathclyde uni chaplaincy. :-) I'm happy about this. Actually I'm very happy. I think quite a lot of the folk there will be from the the Taizé prayer group they do on a Monday, to which I have been kindly welcomed. The prayers in the monastery and the surrounding countryside and the actual genuine bona fide silence sound like exactly what I need.

I'm told Vigils & Lauds (4.45am) aren't compulsory...

I can't tell you how much the chaplaincy has helped me since I came to Strathclyde. It's been such a lifeline. There have been times when I was right down to my last nerve, and climbing the stair felt like the last effort of a desperate man. Collapsed in one of the sofas I'd never have the energy to talk to anyone, but always, when I needed it, someone lovely would come over. I have seldom felt so listened to as I have in that place, and I've really said very little to anyone there. It has not, even slightly, been about what I believe, or what they believe. I've just felt listened to. Wanted. Cared about. Dare I say it, loved. And never any need for words, where I needed silence. That's what the chaplaincy is about for me, that's exactly what it's about. Ministry.

There was a time when I hoped I'd be a chaplain. I remember being very struck by a visit from the chaplain of Yorkhill Children's Hospital. Here was a man who would see children die every day, and still got up to go in and be with them. Here was a man who could talk to us about it without closing his eyes for a minute: who would look death straight in the face, because he knew it was necessary. I knew chaplains were brave and fierce and amazingly gentle with those they cared for. It's just as true of the chaplain at Strathclyde, Rev. Marjory MacAskill. Some people just know the Right Things To Say.

(Booked something else as well while I was at it. It may not be as quiet, although there were only, what, 5500 people there last June.)

(very excited)