Sheer Silence : Still Waters

a time to enter silence, still the mind and encounter the present moment in quiet

Saturdays 5th September & 3rd October 2015

8 - 10am 

St. Mary's Church, Sullington, West Sussex, RH20 4AE

For September and October we are trying out a new format which we hope will allow time for silence, for some input and led practice with the opportunity for some sharing of insight for those who wish. The timings will be as follows:

8am - 8.50am  - ‘Sheer Silence’ with an opportunity for contemplative practice in companionable silence. No words; the occasional chime to bring the attention back to the breath and to change posture if required. the invitation is to arrive when you like during this time and quietly slip in and participate in the silence. 

8.50-9am - music interlude

9am- 10am – ‘Still Waters’ with a short led introduction, followed by about 25 minutes silence and then a plenary session for shared insight to finish.

You are welcome to come at either 8 or 9am or to stay for the whole time.

No booking is required and all are welcome.

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’


1 Kings 19:11-13

Silence - c. Tessa Holland 

Peace be with you 

Journeying Together

A Service of Silence & Beholding

an unhurried time in which to dwell at the heart of the Eucharist

Sunday 26th July

8a.m.

St. Mary's Church, Sullington RH20 4AE

Carrying the Cross
2009

On retreat 6 years ago at St. Beuno's in North Wales I was reflecting on my life as a priest here in the Diocese of Chichester. It was a painful time, one of feeling rejection and a lack of support from the Institution. It was a desert place and time. My retreat guide encouraged me to draw how I felt and to allow the activity of drawing and the painting itself to help me listen to what God might be showing me in my situation. 

As I drew, the landscape became a flowering wilderness, where in the distance there were people gathered. Too far off to see them clearly, but I had a sense they were people of the desert, waiting to offer welcome. The insights the painting offered has helped me journey deeper into the desert with hope.

As this cycle of services comes to its summer rest, those faces are now known to me as friends and fellow travelling companions who gather for Still Waters, Quiet Garden and this Eucharist. I am deeply grateful for your presence, your welcome and your companionship. 

During August we shall have a rest, 

returning on September 5th for Still Waters.

Peace be with you. 

June into July

A Service of Silence & Beholding: 

an unhurried time in which to dwell at the heart of the Eucharist

Sunday 28th June

8a.m.

St. Mary's Church, Sullington

Still Waters: 

a time to enter silence, still the mind and encounter the present moment in quiet

8 -10am

You are welcome to come at either 8 or 9 or to stay for the whole time. 

St Mary's Church, Sullington

Whether these events are part of your rhythm of contemplative practice, or you just need some space away from it all at this time of year, you will be most welcome. 

We love with God when and only when we are the conduit for God's reconciling presence with the person next to us. It is as we connect the other with the source of life that we come to stand in the place of life, the place cleared and occupied for us by Christ. 

Rowan Williams, Silence & Honey Cakes

Peace be with you.

Still Waters

This Saturday, 6^th June, you are once again invited to join Mark and I up at Sullington church from 8am until 10am for ‘Still Waters: a time to enter silence, still the mind and encounter the presence in quiet.’ Our short introductory focus will be on the dynamic between solitude and community – and in particular on the paradox of entering into silence as a radical expression of community and connectedness with all ...

At the heart of a maturing community are people who have begun to find their balance in solitude, their equipoise of conversion, of ready, eucharistic, ungrasping response, of apatheia. By discovering what they must do to find and maintain this moving balance and repose, they have begun to find true community; they have realized interdependence that is focused beyond itself.

Maggie Ross, Pillars of Flame: power, priesthood and spiritual maturity

We hope that you are able to join us.

Peace be with you

Tessa

Indwelling Flame

Pentecost Sunday 

24th May 2015

8a.m.
St. Mary's Church, Sullington

A Service of Silence and Beholding:

 an unhurried time in which to dwell at the heart of the Eucharist

It is done.

Once again Fire has penetrated the earth...

without earthquake, or thunderclap: the flame has lit up the whole world from within...

so naturally has it flooded every element, every energy, 

every connecting-link in the unity of our cosmos, 

that one might suppose the cosmos to have burst spontaneously into flame. 

The Mass on the World

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Peace be with you

Resurrection Beholding - continued...

This coming Saturday, 2nd May, is an opportunity to gather for another Contemplative Fire session of Still Waters: a time to enter silence, still the mind and encounter the present moment in quiet. 

Our focus will continue with 'Resurrection Beholding', on this occasion using a seven-step movement, developed by Revd Philip Roderick and which I have used on my own, with small groups and with too many to count of all ages at Greenbelt, the Christian music and arts festival. It is a wonderful contemplative exercise, very stilling, insightful and fun! 

We shall begin at 8am up at St, Mary's, Sullington and repeat the session at 9am. You are welcome to come for an hour at either 8 or 9, or to stay for the whole time - it's interesting how the second session is never the same as the first!  No booking required and all are welcome. Look forward to seeing you. 

'You are the deep innerness of all things,

the last word that can never be spoken.'

Maria Rainer Rilke

Peace be with you

Tessa

Resurrection Beholding of the Deep Innerness of all Things

As the season of Eastertide deepens, all are welcome to our monthly Service of Silence & Beholding at St. Mary's Sullington, this Sunday 26th April at 8am. Weather permitting, there will be an opportunity to be outside for a while during our shared liturgy of silence, stillness and reflection, before gathering again inside for the breaking of bread and sharing of wine. 

You are the deep innerness of all things,

the last word that can never be spoken.

Maria Rainer Rilke

Peace be with you