Lent Quiet Morning

Our Quiet Morning began with a beautiful walk through St. Giles' Churchyard in Ashtead. The snowdrops carpeted our pathway through to our meeting place.

We were led by Revd. Camilla White, her them was our 'desert' experiences.

Lent is traditionally a time for self-examination and reflection, as we accompany Jesus through his forty days in the  wilderness of the Judean desert. On the quiet morning we had two led times of reflection interspersed with plenty of personal space. This enabled us to think about our own ‘desert’ experiences and what might sustain us in them.

Here's a poem that Camilla used, it resonated with many and helped us to settle in as we came to deepen our awareness of God in this season in our lives.

The desert waits, ready for those who come,

who come obedient to the Spirit's leading

or who are driven,

because they will not come any other way.

The desert waits, ready to let us know who we are,

the place of self-discovery.

And whilst we fear, and rightly,

the loneliness and emptiness and harshness,

we forget the angels

whom we cannot see for our blindness,

but who come when God decided

that we need their help;

when we are ready

for what they can give us.

Ruth Burgess (from Eggs and Ashes by Ruth Burgess and Chris Polhill, published by Wild Goose Publications 2004)

Camilla led us beautifully, with ease and in peace.....her use of words and the way she spoke was crafted in such a way that everyone was included and from the comments that were received, it not only set the pace for Lent but also gave us a rich vein of resource to sustain us.

Psalm 63: 1

O God, you are my God, I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.