Dear blog visitor, Christmas blessings of joy and peace to you!

May 2013 herald a new era of compassion, justice and truth,

starting right here, right now.

 

Some words from the 16th Century mystic, Theresa of Avila:

Christ has no body but yours,


No hands, no feet on earth but yours,


Yours are the eyes with which he looks 
compassion on this world,


Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,


Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.


Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,


Yours are the eyes, you are his body.


Christ has no body now but yours,


No hands, no feet on earth but yours,


Yours are the eyes with which he looks 
compassion on this world.


Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Teresa of Avila

1515 – 1582

This snowy holly photo was taken a couple of years ago on a very cold, wintry visit to the Chelmsford Diosecan retreat house, which stands in the ancient moated village of Pleshey.

I remember in  the chapel there was a kneeler decorated with a labyrinth…

an early signpost on my labyrinth trail.

Another memory: one night, I headed out of my room to go to the bathroom and was surprised to see a large bat flying around in the stairwell. At Pleshey bats are often sighted in summer, but they normally hibernate in winter. Further investigation revealed that in the Native American tradition the bat is symbolic of intuition, dreaming and vision.

Appropriate themes for midwinter… Time for rest, renewal and dreams of new beginnings.