On my recent North Sea excursion to Norway and the Orkneys I often enjoyed standing on the outer decks looking out to sea. It struck me that the ocean is, or could be viewed as “the desert” in the same way that third and fourth century ascetics went out into the desert to master the [...]
Last week my office was re-decorated. It was about time too. I’d never changed the colour of the walls which as you can see were a nausiating “Crayola Sunshine Yellow”. Preparing for the arrival of the decorator I had to empty the room in which I spend so much of my time. The bird had [...]
For much of yesterday (Sunday) we pottered about in the garden. Thinning the leaf cover on the pond, watering, planting, picking, tidying. I spent the day intermitantly considering the connection between gardening and spirituality/devotion. Early reflections on Mary – for example, relied heavily on the image of the “enclosed garden” or Paradise. This was not [...]