Spiritual Underpinnings - Praying Around

More "Underpinnings." Have you ever noticed that there's just one letter's difference between "pray," and "play?"

Spiritual Underpinnings - On Retreat

Compton Durville, May 2010

Would that I was! Never mind. Spring is really on its way now, my sunflower seedling is pushing its way through the soil so I've decided to follow in like mind by adding to my sorely neglected Spiritual Underpinnings page - beginning with Retreats. They've been a mainstay of my spiritual journey for nearly ten years now. I'm so thankful to the people who showed me that they  aren't just for monks, nuns and priests but can benefit 'ordinary' people, like myself. (Is anybody ever 'ordinary' I wonder?) My first experiences of retreat were at the  (sadly now closed) Community of St Francis at Compton Durville. My experience up to then had been mostly of Parish Weekends and conferences; I quickly - and thankfully - learned that your average retreat is a very different animal! I tend to go in for the oodles of silence and meet with your retreat guide once a day type of set-up: the classic Individually Guided Retreat.  If that's not your thing, don't worry, retreats  come in all shapes and sizes, although an essential element is always that of setting aside time and space to be with and hear God: something that even with best intentions I don't always remember  to incorporate into my day to day busyness.

Anyoldhow, I've linked to a number of different folks' reflections on their retreat experiences and will add more as I find them. I hope it'll prove a handy resource. Do pop over there if you want.

Speaking Cat and Existentialism

I've been inspired by KirstenM's brilliant links to Ninja cat clips to show you a recentish pic of our resident feline with 'cattitude.' For blog purposes we'll call him 'Tigercat,' if his fur-flying all claws sharpened virtuoso performance at the vets just after we got him is anything to go by maybe 'Jekyll and Hyde cat' would be a more appropriate moniker.  A year later and with vaccs due again, we braced ourselves for an encore and what  would you know...he was good as gold. Twelve months co-existing with GP dog must have had a calming effect. Although I doubt he'll ever be a true lap cat, he's a worthy successor to the late great 'Gothcat,' 'Kung-Foo Viking' , and last, but definitely not least, our  much-loved little 'Scaredy Cat.'

Of course, all this is just an excuse (thanks, Kirsten for paving the way) for linking to all things cat - two clips sent me recently by Ms and Mstr GP:  if you're still struggling to understand the labyrinthine workings of the feline mind, here's a simple guide to How to speak cat. Then if  that still fails to make any  sense, you might find solace in the musings of good old Henri, philosopher and existentialist. Non, je ne regrette rien....

Here Comes The Sun?

When I grow up I'm going to be a sunflower. Yes, really... Mr GP gave me three of these little fellows for my birthday last week. Good, aren't they? I've planted the first can in an attempt to convince myself as much as anybody else  that if the sun still isn't appearing down our way, we can  brighten up the place with our own variety. I say "convince myself; " my  fits of the bleahs, ennui, acidie or whatever you want to call it  continue. Whether it's post-Easter let down, (when our church does Holy Week, it really does it well!), lingering post -  meno health niggles or whatever; my blog -  if not my whole get up and go -  seems to have got up and gorn. 

Out there in the blogosphere,  Retired Knitter has fallen over the edge of a 'blog cliff,' the much revered Chorister has 'retired,' her wonderful wibsite choir blog, and Steve Tilley...well...I might have completely misunderstood his last post, but he's currently  in colloquy with a being called Big Blogger. I'm not alone it seems.

Mr GP, on the other hand,  is on a roll, with his talk of pedalling and postive mindsets. Maybe I need to get on my bike.