Laying To Rest The Ghosts Of A Quiet Day

A rare free Saturday, so I made a last minute decision to go to a Quiet Day, organised by those who organise events for Readers in my Diocese. As it was being held at the parish church, there were no tricky transport issues to resolve. I just had to get DH to drop me off.

A couple of years have passed since I last attended a Quiet Day.  I haven't dared to return after several of us committed a monumental, accidental faux pas. We were so busy chatting after lunch, that we completely failed to notice that The Great Afternoon Silence had begun. There we were, in a most unholy huddle, chatting and even, gasp, laughing! Meanwhile, others in the same room were deep in prayer and meditation, trying valiantly to ignore our foolish prattle. Apart from the odd 'tut' no-one gave any indication that our conversations were out of place.
Eventually, the organiser reappeared and we realised to our horror that we had comprehensively committed the sin of breaking The Great Afternoon Silence.
We should not be united in convivial conversation, but separate small islands of silence - communicating with God, not our fellow Readers.
I vowed to avoid future Quiet Days - a pity, as the food at that particular venue, was rather good...

Fast forward a few years and I have a free Saturday, which coincides with the quiet day being held a mile or so from home. I decided to be brave and attend. It felt a bit odd, to be rolling up to an event in a building I knew so well...

During the introduction I found myself thinking of all the sins I could possibly commit during The Great Silence.
1. Go up the tower and ring a bell to warm up...
Fortunately, the heating was on, so that wasn't a problem.

2. Get rung up by DH and have a domestic over some triviality 
"Where is the green chopping board."
"I have absolutely no idea!"
"Have you hidden it again?"
"Not that I am aware of...Yet"
"I don't know what you have against that chopping board!"
"Maybe the fact that it half fills the dishwasher?"
"It doesn't fill half the dishwasher!"
"It takes up six spaces - five more than a standard small chopping board!"
"I do hope you haven't done anything silly with it..."
No, I didn't put it in the bin... Good idea though."
"Really!"
" I was joking. I really haven't put it in the bin, its the wrong sort of plastic for recycling."
"Ha! Ha!"
"Yes, that was a joke. You are right. It would be a waste for it to go to landfill.. and no self-respecting charity shop would want it!"
'You bought it. I don't know WHAT you have against it!"
"Yes, It was me that purchased the chopping board. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I had no idea you were going to use it every time you wanted to chop an item..."
Didn't happen.

3. Annoy everyone by walking round in circles to hatch eggs in Pokemon Go
I did go for a lovely walk...

4. Set the timer on my phone to loudly herald to end of each section with a loud klaxon sound effect. 
Resisted!

5. Sneeze loudly and continually
Not guilty, though I am sure I coughed a bit. OOps!

6. Talk to myself, randomly and at irregular intervals.
My thoughts remained in the best possible place - in my head...or on a piece of paper.

7. Play music on my phone, but so quietly that every one begins to suspect that they have developed tinnitus.
Resisted.

8. Go for a crafty fag and set the smoke alarms off
No excuse, there was plenty of opportunity to go outside - besides which I don't smoke.

9. Knock the hymn books on to the organ keyboard
I am sure it is turned off, well at least I hoped it was.
I avoided that area in case any hymnbooks tried to get me into trouble.

10. Strategically place whoopee cushions on certain seats
Fortunately, the chairs didn't have lose covers, but one to remember for another occasion...

So what DID I get up to?

The theme was contemplative prayer.
At best, my brain resembles a mush of random thoughts and ideas,
so I am not sure I did a very good job of silencing my mind.
I did spend some time focusing on
Philippians 4:4-9,
and felt inspired to draw a chart
to illustrate the words.

Always someone new to meet...

We gathered around small tables to eat our packed lunches,
chatting to folk we haven't seen for several months and making the acquaintance of those we have not met before.

Reader gatherings are like a dance,
with ever-changing participants.
There is always someone new to meet
and familiar faces to greet.







In the afternoon we were given some words to ponder on, focussing on the four seasons.
Outside Spring was calling to me,
so I lay down my pen and paper
and went out into the familiar parkland
that adjoins the church grounds.
Here the world and church intermingled with each other and nature.
The lane and fields are prime dog-walking territory for the nearby community,
and here and there individuals were walking, enjoying the spring sunshine - mainly Readers venturing out from the sanctuary of the church buildings to enjoy God's creation.







Because this was the church I attended as a child,
I have seen this area change from rural farmland,
to parkland within a new town.
Although I still live locally,
I don't often walk in the vicinity of the church,
as we usually arrive and leave by car.

In the intervening 40 or so years,
much has changed,
but not changed.
The pathways are in the same place,
but all the vegetation has grown.
This was once a trackway between two fields,
which I used to run down,
feeling my legs get faster and faster,
and wondering if they would actually run away from me! Now it is narrow and overgrown.

It is good to go back, attend another Quiet Day, enjoy the peace it offered and lay to rest the ghosts of disasters past.