The Restory Retreat Centre

  Buttonhole Paradise The Conversation Elements From The Conversation This is what a space, much larger than a buttonhole, looks like. Morrison describes the exact opposite of Tagore's fool—someone who receives your pieces and returns them to you whole. The tragedy of Tagore's flower is that it gave itself to someone who could never perform this gathering. Music This is the tragedy Tagore's line warns against: the flower stays in the fool's buttonhole even after realizing the fool cannot keep it safe. With deep affection we send you away with the simple request to answer these two questions honestly for yourself: The thing I call paradise right now is ____________________ The first small root I could send toward real soil is ___________________ George & Matilda

  Knoopsgat Paradys Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Dit is hoe 'n waardige oop ruimte, veel ruimer as 'n knoopsgat, lyk. Morrison beskryf die teenoorgestelde van Tagore se dwaas – iemand wat jou stukke ontvang en dit heel aan jou terugbesorg. Die tragedie van Tagore se blom is dat dit haarself aan iemand gegee het wat nooit hierdie heelmaak proses kon uitvoer nie. Musiek Dit is die tragedie waarteen Tagore se aanhaling waarsku: die blom bly in die dwaas se knoopsgat selfs nadat sy besef het dat die dwaas haar nie veilig kan hou nie. Met groot liefde stuur ons jou weg met die eenvoudige versoek dat jy hierdie twee vrae eerlik vir jouself sal antwoord: Dit wat ek tans my paradys noem is  ____________________ Die eerste klein wortel wat ek na ware grond uitstuur is ____________________ George & Matilda

What The Mystics Know  3.1) Great love opens us up and makes us vulnerable The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music Maybe we haven't discovered that fire yet. But may we let sparks fly everywhere.  Met ons liefde. George & Matilda

Wat Die Mistici Weet  3.1) Groot liefde maak ons oop en weerloos Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Musiek Dalk het ons nog nie daardie vuur ontdek nie. Maar mag ons oral vonkies laat uitslaan. Met ons liefde. George & Matilda

Advent: Love The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music With all our love and deep wishes for a very meaningful Christmas.  George & Matilda

Advent: Liefde Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Musiek Met al ons liefde en diep wense vir 'n baie betekenisvolle Kersfees. George & Matilda

There are times when I confuse myself. My love and admiration for heavy draught horses is a very good example. For as long as I can remember I have been fascinated by these gentle giants. Whenever I pick up a book on horse breeds, I almost automatically turn the pages to the heavy horses - Shires, Clydesdales, Percherons, Brabants and Suffolk Punches. Friesians are usually classified as a light horse, but somehow their general appearance and height let me regard them as a lighter version of a draught horse. So I love these horses. But somehow I am a little bit afraid of them as well. How is it possible to control that strength, guide that weight? Weibert: Photographs by Gary Loney In all fairness, the main reason for my fear is the amount of actual contact I have had with horses in general. It is almost none. My love has been a book love, my fear grew out of very limited real life exposure. That applies to horses in general, but even more so in the case of ...

Photograph by Kris Vanderveken To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket — safe, dark, motionless, airless — it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside of Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.                                                                       ...

Painting by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy It is a good rule after reading a new book,  never to allow yourself another new one  till you have read an old one in between.                                                                             ~ C.S. Lewis  On the contemplative journey, we find Lewis’s advice not only interesting and helpful, but almost inevitable as well. You come across all these wise modern authors and companions on the journey, but as a rule, they constantly remind you of the deep and rich tradition from where we find guidance and nourishment. We are members of a community of believers that span over centuries. It is an adventure with many rewards to be part of this ongoing conversation where the voices of the desert fathers, Julian of Norwich, ...