When my daughter asked me why I was going on a silent retreat as she gave me a lift to the station, my answer was ‘I don’t know’. I knew I had booked my place in the wintery months and had been looking forward to being with members of the Community again but the reality of a completely silent retreat slipped into my consciousness and I felt unprepared. That was surely the best place to be, without expectations, without goals or assumptions. What I experienced over the long weekend gave me my answer. We live in a world that gives very little time for silence and though I struggled initially, the invitation to be with others in shared silence and gentle attention proved to be more enriching than I can put into words.
We gathered at the tiny Monastery of Bernadine in Brownshill, a small village nestled in the Cotswolds close to Stroud with its steep valleys and abundant woodland. The retreat was arranged by the team with great thought and care and an open heart within which we were invited to deepen our attention through meditation, walking meditation, beautiful readings, a wide range of wisdom teachers and joining the Sisters for the Offices. The times together were also punctuated by chanting which somehow deepened the silence as we shared together this ancient communal practise of worship.
The tapestry of the days was held together by the vibrant and wonderful teachings from Rev. Mark Ball who gave a series of talks and reflections over the weekend and developed and deepened for us the grounding theme of Preparing the Way based on the life of John the Baptist. John Main’s treasure of Monastery Without Walls provided the roots for our Community gathering and the poems from Wendell Berry’s A Timbered Choir somehow provided the branches that connected us to the landscape and woodlands in which we rested. Mark is a true word-smith and we were so blessed to have him share his insights, humour and encouragement with us.
Simone Weil notes for us that ‘absolute attention is prayer’. The experience of being together in communion on this retreat, in silence, and with attention is a reminder that ‘something like revelation takes place, something is given’. I am content once more to sit with my nothing and know that it is everything. I am reminded once again that by listening deeply we can connect deeply and, as John Main taught us, Meditation creates Community.
Jane Serrurier