Saturday 12 March 2011

Cambridge

On Thursday I had the great pleasure of sharing with students in Cambridge about Methodist Spirituality. We agreed that Methodism cheerfully borrows from a number of traditions but that there is a "flavour" that is almost instantly identifiable even when we are adapting our own or others' material. It was good to meet a number of new folk as well as catching up with some I had met before. As always the hospitality was excellent, but more important was the challenge to think clearly and then articulate well my own thinking and my own approach to the various questions raised.

We ate together, worshipped together, discussed and relaxed together, and I am grateful for the evening.

And now I go on my hermitage retreat. I will not speak to another person for 7 days, once I am settled in my small self-catering chalet in the Brecon Beacons. As I seek to listen to what God is saying, I shall remember the Methodist people and our suffering world in prayer. I trust that I shall return home strengthened for the time ahead, and trusting in God's love and truth as I face the challenges God's love always offers. I usually find that these annual retreats re-create me, as my heart is searched and known by God, and my faith is made new again by God's Spirit.

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