October: Thoughts from Huw

Dear Friends,

I’m writing to you following my visit to Wesley today. It is really good to be back with you  following my sabbatical over the summer. Thank you for your good wishes and prayers which have helped me. It has been  wonderful to spend more time with  family and friends including  visiting my extended  family in Wales. It has been relaxing  to just read,  sit in  the sunshine in the manse garden, go to the beach at South Shields and to visit St. Mary’s Cathedral in Newcastle for times of prayer.

In Mark’s Gospel Ch1 v35 we read how in the morning Jesus got up, went out to a deserted place and there he prayed.

While it’s true that we can find God and pray to God anywhere and everywhere - in the kitchen, in the street, in the car, in the workshop – still, it’s good to have a special place to which we can withdraw from time to time – the shore, the park, the mountains, the church or wherever.

In such places, God somehow seems to be nearer and more friendly. The whole atmosphere seems to be pervaded with His presence. God speaks to us in the wind, in the sound of the stream, in the song of a bird, in the beauty of a wild flower, in the very silence.

And in such places we are different too. We are calmer, quieter, more relaxed, and are more open to what God is offering us at all times and in all places. 

It is very good to have a special spot, our own sacred space, from which we exclude everything else. Such a spot is especially helpful for quiet meditation and for talking to God from the heart, person -to-person. Even just to sit in such a special room is a good thing. In your sacred space/place you not only find God but find yourself. We lose touch with ourselves when we are too busy. It`s impossible to see one`s face in troubled waters.

Everybody, whether they realise it or not, is in need of such a space. To be relaxed we need space – our own private space, the place of solitude, where we can be in touch with our deepest being, to be in touch with God. If we do not have this, if our space is taken away, if we are under too much pressure, or overwhelmed with things to do, then we risk falling into confusion. This is what Jesus was doing when he rose early and went off to a lonely place to pray.

Take care and keep safe.

With all good wishes and prayers,
Huw