The latest issues of Meditation News, the UK Community Newsletter, and the WCCM International Newsletter are now available to download and read here for free.Â
Dear Friends, Hello!
I have always enjoyed reading the quarterly Newsletter of our community. I think we owe a great debt of gratitude to Margaret Comerford who has fulfilled the role of Editor so ably over the last 10 years.
I hope I will be able to serve you in the future giving a voice to our community with the invaluable help and support of Andy Goddard. Of course, I depend on you, dear fellow meditators, to send in your contributions. I would like to support us in communicating with one another. We can share inspiration and discover the various gifts and achievements of fellow members of our UK community.
There is a theme coming through in the various contributions that have come my way (as I gather material for this issue). It is the theme of Hope! Despite the wretched state of the world politically and environmentally, there is much to work, to pray and to meditate for. You will see it reflected in a number of the articles and poems in this newsletter…
Theme of Hope
At our recent UK Oblate Retreat at the Kairos Centre, we received four Novices, Jan Bundy, Sharon, Moira Whelan, and Anne Jaxa Chemiec as full oblates and welcomed Robert Mc Laughlin as a postulant. Their reflections are part of this article. At the retreat we asked what additional support was needed for our UK oblate community. And apart from all that we currently offer, there was a question:
Can any WCCM members join our oblate events and the answer is a resounding YES!
…
When dark clouds
want to obscure
the chamber of the heart,
an angel of light
is urging us on
through the undefined
vapours of gloom
scattering behind him
fragments of hope
Margrit Dahm
From: Fragments of Hope by Margrit Dahm published 2024 by Vanguard Press. Used by permission.
A Transformative Experience:
Reflections on the WCCM Retreat at Ammerdown…
How secure the tomb is.
How cosy it is in its snugness.
It is here that the struggle for birth begins.
The groans of childbirth reverberate around the tomb.
I want to stay here; but I also want to live.
I am the child ready to be born.
The tomb is the womb of God.
Out of the tomb is born the child of God.
I am the child,
fighting its birth,
trying to hang on to the false securities of the past.
I am here, inside God, ready to be born into the world.
At this moment of resurrection,
I know the birth pains of God, my mother.
For the first time I know the pain of God,
who is at work recreating me.
As I struggle, trying to remain inside the womb,
I hear the screams of God as she gives birth.
Judy Holyer
Judy Holyer offered this poem in the course of the retreat which
she read out loud in a sharing session.
Inspiring Initiatives
Sally Walters, Contact for Nailsea Meditation Group Team writes:
I feel ‘full to the brim’, overflowing with thankfulness for our pilgrimage. Our Bishop and missional priest for youth and young adults, instigated this annual exciting experience inviting young people between the ages of 19 – 29. I work in a wellbeing role with clergy, including other aspects of the diocese that would benefit from some psychological input.
Being older, rather than young, though the criterion was to be young at heart, I went as a leader and for the first time managed living in a tent and enjoyed camping, walking the distance to the showers/toilets, and lining up in crowds for the very basic but adequate food offered. Erecting the tent was my challenge, however, as with most new experiences at Taizé, joint ventures were part of the experience, helping each other and living alongside in community, regardless of age, denomination or culture. Taizé attracts young people from all over the world. It was fun!…
Lucy Blows became curate in the Benefice of Pill, Easton in Gordano and Portbury a year ago. She has set up a new meditation community starting with a 6-week Introductory Course. Meditation takes place every week in one of the three churches.
Lucy is introducing the children to meditation in 2 primary schools. She has introduced chaplaincy in secondary schools…
May I share my experience of plucking up courage to introduce meditation in my local Anglican church. To start a regular meditation group in my village felt like a gift I could offer, but somehow, I kept stalling before taking any action.
I decided that maybe a short afternoon mini retreat would be achievable. I wanted the session to be grounded in the Christian tradition, but not exclusive to churchgoers, therefore I needed to choose the words and readings carefully…
Outreach
The WCCM theme for 2025 is The Risk of Living Together. I thought to myself how appropriate a theme this is – given all the riots that have sadly erupted across parts of the UK during the summer, including in my home town of Middlesbrough!
In fact, I have never witnessed such anger and hatred spill out from so many people against a very vulnerable and terrified target group of locally dispersed Asylum Seekers and local Muslims. Most of them had even been born and bred in the town as had their parents!
This begs the question, how can we as a Contemplative Community play our part in helping to quell such unrest and maybe help to re-build fractured communities in our midst? Do we have a responsibility to even try, some would say?…
It was an absolute privilege and delight to host Sarah Bachelard on her visit to the UK in the summer of 2024 and to spend time talking with her about all things contemplative. The advantage of being host was that we had Sarah to ourselves for some of the time. During some of those quiet times we talked about the contemplative projects we are trying to grow here in Yorkshire and really valued her encouragement, wisdom and genuine interest…
Meditation News and the International Newsletter are available free on our website from //wccm.uk/newsletters-page/ Â Distribution to most subscribers is online with notification of a new issue by email. If you wish to subscribe please sign up here: //wccm.uk/newsonline
If you would like to receive a printed copy of the UK newsletter please contact the office by email uk@wccm.org or phone 020 8095 4442. There is no charge but a donation of £20 is suggested which covers the cost of photocopying and postage for the four issues. The latest International newsletter is included.
Some articles are available as separate news items on the website listed on
//wccm.uk/category/newsletters/.
There are listings of UK events, key International events and selected offerings from Bonnevaux and the Meditatio Centre. The contacts list has been updated (the latest version is always available on the website).
The next issue will be available in mid-March. Please send articles to: uknewsletter@wccm.uk and events to: events@wccm.uk to reach us by 1 February.