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May 16^th

One of the things that has been an important subtext for me over the last two months of extensive travelling is that of “feeling the pulse” of the Community. I am very heartened of what I have heard, observed and experienced. There is definitely a new season; it’s like springtime. It’s exciting and yes at times demanding. It’s like our garden at home that Shirley has been working so hard in during my absence. You’ve waited for months over a long winter when there appears to be little happening and you can do very little about it and then with Spring comes life, growth, beauty, variety and with it hard work. You need that fine balance of working hard to tend and care and also the ability to relax and enjoy it.

It was good to be at Poustinia, the home of Peter and Elizabeth in Exeter on the eve of the Regional Gathering in the city the following day. We were joined for the evening by Millie who lives locally and Doreen, who had travelled further, a Community Companion who carries a real missional heart to Cornwall. A splendid meal, large doses of laughter and sharing together ensured that the Community’s commitment to hospitality was evident which flowed into the ethos of the next day’s gathering where we welcomed Companions and Friends from the South West for a day of Community being together, sharing stories, praying, eating and participating in some creative workshops. These are great days for Companions, Friends and anyone interested in the Community to come and explore and experience something of our Community life together.

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Newsflash

On Sunday the 13th of February 2011 the words of the day 13 meditation were read aloud for the first time in our new 'Nether Springs' at Acton Home Farm. How apt and moving they were as we sat and prayed after this long journey home. This was the first day that the Community had been able to gather at our new Mother House, and the story of Achsah and Othniel was a clear reminder of God's faithfulness and provision for us as a Community after the turmoil of leaving Hetton Hall.

Day 13 Meditation - Achsah and Othniel

And so it was that Achsah kept urging Othniel her husband

to ask from her father a field.

She lighted from off her ass, and Caleb said to her,

'What is it that you want?'

And she said to him, 'Give me a blessing,

for you have given me this dark, desert land;

now give me also springs of water.'

And her father gave her the upper and the nether springs.

Judges1:14-15

One of the things that many people have commented on is how well the familiar and the new have blended together, Acton Home Farm feels like home. But it's more than this, it also feels like a place of renewed purpose for us where the 'monastic' and the 'missional' sit closer together, as we begin to explore afresh the five monastic disciplines that underpinned our life at Hetton Hall: Worship, Work, Study, Solitude and Community. The physical move to Acton Home Farm is now complete, but the transition into this new chapter of our Community's life is still continuing as we build on the foundations of old, and seek God for his purposes for us in this wonderful place.

At the rebuIlding of the Abbey on Iona, George Macleod prayed a prayer that voices our prayers:

It is not just the interior of the walls, it is our own inner beings you have renewed. We are your temple not made by hands. We are your body. If every wall should crumble, and every church decay, we are your habitation. Nearer are you than breathing, closer than hands and feet. Ours are the eyes with which you, in the mystery, look out in compassion on the world. So we bless you for this place, for your directing of us, your redeeming of us, and your indwelling. Take us 'outside the camp', Lord, outside holiness, out to where soldiers gamble, and thieves curse, and nations clash at the cross-roads of the world... So shall this building be justified.

The sounds of saws and hammers are giving way to the sounds of chapel bell, prayers and laughter. Come and join with us as we seek God and build a new home together.