NOVEMBER 2011 MEDITATION

Small branches of leaves can, in themselves, be the ‘burning bush’ which both hides and reveals the Creator. October and November had many small fires of revelation when the rising and the setting sun shone into our enclosure.

The mandala I designed for November brought together the beauty of a sycamore leaf and smaller leaves with the wonderful patterns of Nigella (colloquially: ‘love-in the mist’) seed-pods. This design is a wordless act of love and thanks-giving for ‘the beauty of the earth’ still shining in a world, a world which human greed has desecrated, but which God constantly renews in seed and root.

The word ‘mandala’ seems to perplex people. It comes from Sanskrit meaning the ‘circle and centre’ of sacred art. It is also a gift given to ‘man’ as a sacred space in which he can encounter the beauty of holiness.

A kindly visitor always buys some of the mandala cards, and told me that she tried to explain to her friends what they were about. Among the cards she had purchased was one entitled: "The Ear of the Heart." I tried to explain to her what it represented. The phrase occurs in the opening verses of the Prologue to the Rule of Saint Benedict. The spiritual teacher wants the hidden self of the disciple, the true self, not merely to hear the sound of words but to ponder their meaning and significance. Our true being was thought to live in our heart.

For the moment, ignore the snail shell and the ammonite, and look at the peculiar ‘creature’ above. What on earth is it? It is a reasonably accurate depiction of the heart and its valves, with the accompanying lungs much reduced in size, representing wings. The heart-shape could also be seen as a scarab (beetle), but the arteries have been given the appearance of snails. Why? because the ‘ear of the heart’ - the inner ear - is coiled like a snail shell. Repeat patterns occur throughout the whole of creation. When we listen attentively something inside us can stir into life: Were not our hearts burning within us? This voice, or inner revelation, affects the world around us , allowing God’s grace to flow.

5th-6th November 2011

The fire-works of the last few days have been very trying for the cats with their super-sensitive ears. The day had not begun well. After Morning Office I saw some display of shrivelled leaves and two crouching cats. They were hunting a large mouse. Unfortunately it dashed into my cell behind the heaviest cupboard. Former experience had taught me that moving the cupboard was beyond me. I had cleared the top shelves by the time the bell for Mass rang. Brunie was keeping guard during my absence. With two assistants, we moved the cupboard about an inch from the wall and an inch from the adjacent wardrobe. Yes, I had checked that the mouse was still there, by climbing up a step-ladder and shining a torch down on the little beast. I then opened a providential bag of nuts and placed one near the new exit for it. The door was closed and the mouse was left alone while I had breakfast. Some time later I saw that the hazelnut had been replaced by tiny black seeds, fresh mouse droppings, and Brunie showed us where the mouse now was. As I moved that piece of furniture, the mouse dashed away and - I think - down the stairs as both cats went in hot pursuit.

We now need to continue with preparing both for Advent and Christmas. One of our extremely faithful friends, who first wrote to us after seeing SUBURBAN SISTERS in 1996, has become a generous practical helper over the years. She knits baby-clothes for any who are awaiting grandchildren, peels apples when required, and the last few years has helped Sister M. recycle cards or helped us with sewing.

I have been trying to take photographs in the garden when the weather and light permit. However, I rather suspect that all my efforts are in vain as the film moves too easily, and then continued clicking after some 38 shots...Nonetheless, walking in the garden at dawn, and later as the sun shafted low towards evening has been worth it, what ever the outcome. It seems strange that Christmas is so near, as the winter-jasmine is in flower, and marigolds, forget-me-nots and other gentle spring flowers emerge amid fallen autumn leaves.

19th November

Autumn has been unusually beautiful this year. As the sun touches the leaves of deciduous trees at sunrise they glow: when the sun sets, they are incandescent. The ‘burning bush,’ from which Moses heard the voice of the Lord, seems to have spread its flames into every leaf and tree in our area, while early - too early - Spring flowers bloom beside fallen leaves. Even a ladybird pupa is awaiting the moment of its birth, while the weather gets colder and the wind blows: will it survive? Other harlequin seek the sun as it touches their resting place on plant or bush, while little clusters of them are already hibernating in our dormitory area on the first floor.

We have had some lovely encounters with different parishioners this week. An older man, who ought to be called ‘Rustle’ because of his constant fidgeting, gave us two packets of fresh blueberries and a container of pasta: we enjoyed them! A lady called Kate gave us sheets of music for a Celtic Mass her parish is using. We asked her to come and teach us as she teaches local Church choirs. She and her friend Reta came, and we had a lovely time learning to sing another Mass setting - our fifth up to date.

20th November

The liturgy of the Last Sunday of the Year describes God as the Shepherd King.

"The Lord says this: I am going to look after my flock myself and keep it in view. As a shepherd keeps all his flock in view when he stands up in the middle of his scattered sheep, so shall I keep my sheep in view. I shall rescue them from wherever they have been scattered during the mist and darkness. I myself will pasture my sheep, I myself will show them where to rest ...... I shall look for the lost one, bring back the stray, bandage the wounded and make the weak strong. I shall watch over the fat and healthy. I shall be a true shepherd to them. As for you, my sheep, the Lord says this: I will judge between sheep and sheep ..." Ezekiel 34:11-12, 15-17

The following reading from Matthew 25:31- 46 is also heartening. Using the imagery of God as the Judge of his people, we see God praising those who did not know that they were loving him when they showed love and compassion to their fellow men. They did what their hearts prompted them to do, and thus became the People of the Beatitudes.

These liturgical texts are a wonderful introduction to Advent. They herald the Shepherd King, whose Birth we celebrate on the darkest day of the year. He himself is described as both Shepherd and the Lamb of Sacrifice. The imagery is reiterated in many nativity scenes. Shepherds, living on the fringe of society with their flocks, are alerted to his presence. They are the first ‘ritual sinners’ called by God to worship the Child in the cave, both actually and symbolically, by offering the family a lamb ..... for food.

Advent this year is longer than usual, covering the whole four weeks allocated to it by the Church before the Nativity itself. The reading from Isaiah for the first Sunday of Year 2 (November 27th 2011) contains these verses:

You were angry when we were sinners;

we had long been rebels against you.

We were like men unclean,

all that integrity of ours like filthy clothing.

We have all withered like leaves

and our sins blew us away like the wind......Isaiah 64:1-8

That speaks for itself, and explains why the People of God longed for salvation, poetically praying:

Oh, that you would tear the heavens open and come down!

It is this ‘opening of heaven’ which we are celebrating during Advent, not in the way secular society does, but quietly, in the darkness, lighting one more candle each Advent Sunday.

We wish you every blessing during Advent, and may ‘the withered leaves’ of our lives, in their falling, reveal the small buds of fresh hope.