The Restory Retreat Centre

  Deidré  We don't have a recording this week. Our words are few. Our daughter-in-law Deidré passed away unexpectedly last Friday. She leaves behind her husband Leon and 7-year-old daughter Ariana. Yesterday was the funeral service. Our efforts to adjust to her death have also begun. Emily Dickinson wrote about this process as follows: It doesn't happen every day, but in this case we don't completely agree with Emily.  We're not going to pack up our love.  Or is Emily saying more? That we and she are right?  After Deidré's death, we experience that our love for her is still an active force in our lives.  However, Emily describes another truth that we have also experienced. After such a sudden death, you tread water. You move in a haze and do things semi-automatically. You tidy up the house. Put things away. The instinctive work of those who mourn.  This is the difference between the long, lasting landscape of love and the sharp, devastating earthquake ...

Deidré  Hierdie week het ons nie 'n opname nie. Ons woorde is min. Ons skoondogter Deidré is verlede Vrydag onverwags oorlede. Sy laat haar man Leon en 7-jarige dogtertjie Ariana agter. Gister was die roudiens. Ons pogings om aan te pas na haar dood het ook begin. Oor hierdie proses het Emily Dickinson as volg geskryf: Dit gebeur nie aldag nie, maar in hierdie geval stem ons nie heeltemal met Emily saam nie.  Ons gaan nie die liefde wegpak nie.  Of sê Emily meer? Dat ons en sy reg is?  Na Deidré se dood beleef ons dat ons liefde vir haar steeds 'n aktiewe krag in ons lewens is. Emily beskryf egter 'n ander waarheid wat ons ook beleef het. Na so 'n skielike dood trap jy water. Jy beweeg in 'n waas en doen dinge half-outomaties. Jy maak die huis aan die kant. Pak goed weg. Die instinktiewe werk van treurendes. Dit is die verskil tussen die lang, blywende landskap van liefde en die skerp, verwoestende aardbewing van hartseer. Ons aanvanklike reaksie, "Ons gaan nie...

  Our Inner Compass: Facts and Deep Knowing  “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ‭‭Matthew ‭16‬:‭15‬ NIV‬‬                           Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ NIV‬‬                          (Surrender beyond rational control makes something happen) The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music The Aria "Je Crois Encore" (I believe I can still hear) comes from Georges Bizet's opera, The Pearl Fishers. A fisherman, Nadir, believes he hears a melody that sounds from beneath the palm trees - a half-remembered truth, like intuition's quiet pull. Deep knowledge often feels like this: a song you can’t quite place, a voice you’re not sure is yours or God’s or the universe humming through you. May you listen for the small voice—soft in volume, vast in power....

Ons Binne-kompas: Feite en Diep-weet Hy sê toe vir hulle: “Maar julle, wie sê julle is Ek?” ‭‭Matteus‬ ‭16‬:‭15‬ ‭AFR20‬‬                           “Vertrou op die Here met jou hele hart – op jou eie insig moet jy nie staatmaak nie.” ‭‭Spreuke‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬ ‭AFR20‬‬                          (Oorgawe buite rasionele beheer laat iets gebeur) Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Musiek Die aria " Je crois entendre encore" (Ek glo ek kan nog steeds hoor) kom uit Georges Bizet se opera, Die Pêrel Vissers. 'n Visser, Nadir, glo hy hoor 'n melodie wat onder die palms opklink - 'n half-onthoue waarheid, soos intuïsie se stil aantrekkingskrag. Diep wete voel dikwels so: 'n melodie wat jy nie heeltemal kan plaas nie, 'n stem waarvan jy nie seker is of dit joune of God s'n, of die heelal is wat deur jou neurie nie. Mag jy fyn ingestel wees op die fluistering - sag, maar krag...

  Edge Walkers The Conversation Elements From The Conversation "...I see myself as an “edge walker,” wandering along the hemlines of the Christ tradition.  Perhaps you are an edge walker too.  Edge walkers occupy a thin space and are by definition a bit lonely.  Most people inhabit the vast spaces on both sides of edges.  But those of us called to the thresholds—the edges between— live in this thin space and recognize one another when we meet." Victoria Loorz: Church Of The Wild                 Music Artists are often edge walkers, be that poets, painters, writers or singers.  Leonard Cohen who grew up in the Jewish tradition, often taps into Christian themes and images as well. His "If It Be Your Will"  is a beautiful example of the way he approaches prayer and uses traditianal language and concepts, but interprets it in a fresh way and applies it in his life.   The poet, Emily Dickinson, does the same with...

  Randlopers Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek "...I see myself as an “edge walker,” wandering along the hemlines of the Christ tradition.  Perhaps you are an edge walker too.  Edge walkers occupy a thin space and are by definition a bit lonely.  Most people inhabit the vast spaces on both sides of edges.  But those of us called to the thresholds—the edges between— live in this thin space and recognize one another when we meet." Victoria Loorz: Church Of The Wild                 Musiek Kunstenaars is dikwels randlopers, of dit digters, skilders, skrywers, of sangers is.  Leonard Cohen, wat in die Joodse tradisie opgegroei het, tap dikwels ook in op Christelike temas en beelde. Sy "If It Be Your Will"   is 'n mooi voorbeeld van hoe hy met gebed omgaan en aansluit by tradisionele taal en konsepte, maar dit nuut inkleur en in sy eie lewe toepas.   Die digter, Emily Dickinson, doen dieselfde met die tradision...

  And . . . Enneagram The Conversation Elements From The Conversation Music Feeling blue, or depressed is something we tend to avoid at all cost. However, it can be a very wise guide, the bearer of healing and growth. It tends to reveal those times and places where we are off track in our search for ourselves. As Birdtalker sings: But you wipe clean All of these illusions that ain't me Peace, you told me, I'm only here to reveal Where you've been stuck and where you're going if you're lookin' to heal But you've gotta drop these vain addictions and hang on to what's real In essence the message of the Enneagram.  “Ask, and you will receive;  seek, and you will find;  knock, and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks will receive,  and anyone who seeks will find,  and the door will be opened to those who knock.”                                     ...

  En . . . Enneagram Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek Musiek Neerslagtigheid, of 'n doodse gevoel is iets wat ons so vêr as moontlik probeer vermy. Dit kan egter ook 'n wyse leermeester wees en juis genesing bring, omdat dit dikwels uitwys wanneer ons op verkeerde plekke na onsself soek. Soos Birdtalker sing: But you wipe clean All of these illusions that ain't me Peace, you told me, I'm only here to reveal Where you've been stuck and where you're going if you're lookin' to heal But you've gotta drop these vain addictions and hang on to what's real Dis juis die Enneagram se boodskap.  “Vra, en vir julle sal gegee word; soek, en julle sal kry; klop, en vir julle sal oopgemaak word, want elkeen wat vra, ontvang; en elkeen wat soek, kry; en vir elkeen wat klop, sal oopgemaak word.”                                                      ‭‭Matt ‭7...

Photograph by Matilda Angus taken 6 years ago The Bustle in a House The bustle in a house The morning after death Is solemnest of industries Enacted upon earth,-- The sweeping up the heart, And putting love away We shall not want to use again Until eternity.                                                                 - Emily Dickinson (See the previous post Leaving ) It is the morning after my father’s death. I am alone in his room in the retirement home packing all his clothes and other belongings.  I cannot look at his slippers, or his shirts, his glasses, without seeing and smelling him in them. A deep, deep sorrow washes over...

I'm on a quest to get back my creative flow that somehow got buried alive by all that seem to have priority over my creative endeavors.  I tend to do that with things that feel like play.  As we have come to realize, living a simple life, does not mean that it is an easy or leisurely life. On the contrary; no packets of frozen veggies or ready made meals await us when we come in from the studios. It is the life we chose and prefer but it is very easy to lose sight of what our main aim is. To live contemplatively, with creativity, silence and nature as our nurturers, and to create a place where people can come to recharge and be restored. So when I get to the stage that I feel completely stunted, especially where my writing is concerned, I have to allow the laundry to wait until tomorrow and feed my starved inner artist. The diet is simple but shows immediate results:  What I need is sparks. Tiny morsels of seemingly insignificant happenings that sets the gears i...