| The Nether Springs |
| ‘See the land so black and
barren, God will make a watered garden. Fruitfulness where once was parchedness,
light to break into the darkness, Upper Springs and Nether Springs in the
field that Father’s given.’ Celtic
Daily Prayer - Meditation for Day 14. |
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| The Nether Springs
is situated quite deliberately in North Northumberland as a fulfilment of
Josh 15:17-19, a foundational scripture about the Father’s gift to
us of both the Nether Springs and the Upper Springs. In the early days this
story of Caleb, Othniel and Achsah inspired us ‘to seek for the Nether
Springs’. Holy Island was so clearly the place of the Upper Springs;
but somewhere further inland would be a place where people could seek the
nether, hidden, deeper springs of spirituality rooted in the history and
heritage of Northumbria. |
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This spirituality had at its heart the desire
for God, of seeking Him and knowing Him, which was expressed in ‘a
faith that is active and contagious (Upper Springs) and ‘a prayer
that is quiet and contemplative’ (Nether Springs). We needed (and
still need) both the ebb and the flow of the tide of life. |
| The priority of finding ‘the
Nether Springs, a residential monastic centre, and home of Northumbria Ministries’
was realised in October 1992 when the Nether Springs found a home at Hetton
Hall, a large house with a central peel tower, located close to Cuthbert’s
Cave in North Northumberland. |
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The Nether Springs is the Mother House, administrative
centre and home of the Northumbria Community. It is a semi-residential
expression of what is at the heart of the Northumbria Community –
the exploring, embracing and expressing of ‘a new monasticism.’
A monastic school of life, not a monastery but a centre where monastic
values and spiritual disciplines from the monastic tradition are outworked,
lived, taught – living what we teach,
by teaching what we live - with the Rule of Availability and Vulnerability,
the rhythm of the Daily Office being our framework.
The Nether Springs is a sign of the Community’s contemplative heart,
a symbol of hope in a fragmented world, a reminder to the wider community
of the need for liturgical prayer and a daily rhythm, in expressing a
different way to live. It is ‘a demonstration that God exists.’
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Among its many functions are the provision of
Heart, linked to the question, ‘Who
is it that you seek?’ by being a place of Retreat, at the centre of
which is seeking God for Himself. The provision of Home,
linked to the question, ‘How then shall we live’ by being a
place of Reflection on the issues of the new age and changing culture. The
provision of Hospitality, linked to the question,
‘How shall we sing the Lord’s song in a strange land? By being
a place of Refuge for spiritually unsettled people. A safe place where a
stable instability and a certain uncertainty offers Hope,
because, ‘The future belongs to those who
have hope.’ |
All of this is to serve the Lord and his Church.
To touch individual lives so that they in turn can touch the lives of
others. In this all Companions are moving in and out of both the Nether
Springs and the Upper Springs aspects of Monastery and Mission. A going
out and a returning. A sending out and a welcoming home. ‘May the
peace of the Lord Christ go with you… may he bring you home rejoicing…
Also on this theme: read some thoughts on A
New Monasticism The Rule
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