A Retreat Day

A very different day today from how life usually is for me at the moment. A day to spend in quiet reflection amongst the natural beauty of wildflowers, a day to slow down and find peace.

The House of Retreat in the Essex village of Pleshey is a very special place. We heard about it from Rev Christine, who leads our ladies’ house group. She was ordained as a priest there some years ago, so it means a lot to her. Together with the men’s house group we arranged to visit for the day. We’ve been praying for good weather, and our prayers were answered. We had a couple of hours in the morning being led in meditation and study of generosity and judgement, spiritual as well as worldly. This was in the retreat’s own chapel, pictured in Extras, interspersed with some quiet contemplation of these topics whilst seated in the garden. Then, after lunch, we were free to spend the afternoon roaming the gardens and absorbing the joy of nature, with plenty of birdsong and more bees on the flowers than I’ve ever seen at one time. We also explored the adjacent 800-year-old church and wandered around the very pretty village (photos in Extras)

Pleshey is an English countryside idyll. After tea and cake, we returned home feeling relaxed and spiritually refreshed. It’s only when you take some time away from the busyness of everyday life that you realise how much your mind, heart and soul needed it.