Celtic Deserts

That was the title of a course which I attended last week at St. Deiniol's Library, Hawarden, North Wales. The course was lead by David Keller, a former Steward of the Episcopal House of Prayer at St. John's Abbey Minnesota and Emily Winter, a Julian Scholar. The course was designed to reflect on the shared wisdom of the Desert Fathers and Mothers and the Celtic Saints, examining the implications for our personal living, for society in general and the Church in the 21st Century. It was, on the surface, a strange mix of academic study, contemplative prayer, and pilgrimage to Celtic sites around North Wales.

St. Deiniol's Library was constructed as a memorial to William Gladstone and is of late Victorian Splendour, far removed from the lives of both the Desert Fathers and the Celtic Saints. It seemed to me that many attending the course were clergy who possessed 'Oxford' English accents. I confess that I soon began to wonder how God could ever work in this environment.

Well, God proved me wrong. I have been on many courses with many groups but I have yet to find one which seemed to gel as this one as we shared together not only the teaching, but the mystical experience we each felt as we visited the 'thin' places on our days out. I rarely cry, but I cried a lot towards the end when I heard others describing the exact same experiences that I had witnessed. Most importantly I began to see Christ in others for whom in the natural way of things I would not have an affinity.

I have deliberately left off writing this blog for a few days because I wanted to make sure that the 'emotion' of the week away had time to subside. However, I am still left with the feeling of a great seed change in my thinking. The people I meet everyday no longer seem to be just another person, but someone in whom God is revealed and is speaking. What I fully feel is hard to put into words at this stage but I am sure God has his plans!

St Seiriol's Well
One of the sites we visited which was of particular blessing