All Things Bright and Beautiful

Today was the day when I went on a self-led Christian retreat in Oxfordshire with a friend.

So we got there around 10am, in beautiful sunshine. I have been there before (last August) but my friend hasn't so she was interested to see round.

We discovered that they have recently prepared a Prayer Walk which my friend was very keen to do.

We wanted to spend our day mostly separately (after all the idea of a retreat is to spend time with God and not to just chat which one could do some other time (to me anyway!). I decided to start the Prayer Walk (which was quite a long one) at the opposite end. I spent time here last year, so I knew of places I'd like to re-visit.

I walked down the hill to the little stream which runs through the grounds (walking with a stick and a dodgy knee doesn't make it easy, but God was good and I reached it easily. There was a bench which was still quite overgrown after the winter, but I cleared enough space to just sit and listen to the sounds around me.

The reflection in the prayer walk leaflet was from Psalm 23 verses 2-3.

'He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
for his name's sake'

As I sat there and enjoyed the peace, I had in my mind an old hymn which has some lovely words in it:

For the beauty of the earth,
For the beauty of the skies,
For the love which from our birth
Over and around us lies:

Father, unto thee we raise
This our sacrifice of praise

etc.

Also I had a vision of a cloak with many bright colours (jewel-like) from the earth to the sky, sparkling in the light.

I sat there for quite a while and reflected on these views and images.

Just further along was the willow tree that is near to another bench, where I sat and blipped this image from. I had another while of reflection and some more verses to read from Jeremiah, but I'll maybe continue the story in my next blip!)

(Unfortunately I've had a lot of trouble trying to get this to load and ended up saving it to paint~and then trying to enlarge it, but it hasn't really worked. That's the first time I've used my phone to blip, am wondering if anyone can give me some advice about this?)

After a lunch all together with the volunteers working at the house, we again set off separately. This time I went to the Prayer Room indoors for around an hour and reflected on the Lord's Prayer which was hung on the wall there.

I had just gone outside and sat on a seat by the back door of the house, when the first drops of rain began to fall and it thundered and rained very heavily for around 45 minutes. Luckly my friend had been to the car and got our jumpers and waterproofs out just before this happened.

We sat in the lovely hallway there. Whilst my friend was reading, I just sat and watched the rain fall and looked at the magnificance of the views.

Another hymn came to mind as I sat there~well the words:

'The purple-headed mountain, the river running by....'

of course these words come from the hymn 'All Things Bright and Beautiful'.

There are no 'purple-headed' mountains in Oxfordshire, but the colours of the sky as the rain fell and the thunder thundered made up of that!

Such a beautiful image, but unfortunately not really very easy to 'blip' as the rain was so very heavy!

Shortly after the storm the sunshine came back and the white daisies in the grass lifted their heads after the drink, and the roses seemed much brighter in colour. I'm not sure what it is about those images, but they are so special.

Heartfelt for me was the fact that I feel as if I am looking at the world through 'blinkered' eyes, as I dread the daily grind in a horrible job where I am being very badly treated, and too nervous to speak up, because I may lose my job over it. (I just had a letter when I got home telling me I was not recruited for a job I was interviewed for a couple of weeks ago). So desperate to get out of where I am and no further interviews ahead. Its really tough at the moment. Wishing I could retire at 50 (or do something different) but I can't afford to. I am mindful that of course there must be many others in the same position, or worse (sorry if you are reading this, and you are in a worse position).

It was great to have a day away and be reminded of 'God's Beautiful World' well away from streets and houses, work etc.

I am always thankful for times away like this and I think that possibly I need to go away for a day more often (though it would be nice to find somewhere a bit closer to home.