The Restory Retreat Centre

Tidal Wave  This week has washed over us like a tidal wave in preparation for the annual Wakkerstroom Arts and Crafts Festival, artists and festival goers staying on Tafelkop over the weekend, retreat goers coming on a 4-day structured retreat from Monday and retreat goers coming on a 3-night silent retreat next week. As part of all this, we converted the old bathroom into a wheelchair friendly facility. Last night it started to snow. There was just no opportunity for a conversation recording. The music is an island of tranquility in the midst of great activity. With love. George & Matilda

Vloedgolf   Hierdie week het soos 'n vloedgolf oor ons gespoel in die voorbereiding vir die jaarlikse Wakkerstroom Arts and Crafts Festival, kunstenaars en feesgangers wat oor die naweek op Tafelkop oorbly, retreatgangers wat van Maandag op 'n 4-dag gestruktureerde retreat kom en retreatgangers wat in volgende week op 'n 3-nag stil retreat kom. As deel van dit alles het ons die ou badkamer in 'n rolstoelvriendelike fasiliteit omskep.  Op die koop toe het dit Vrydagaand gesneeu.  Daar was net nie geleentheid vir 'n gespreksopname nie. Die musiek is 'n eiland van rustigheid te midde van groot bedrywighede. Met liefde. George & Matilda

Retreats The Conversation Elements From The Conversation "If you don't come away for a while, you will come apart after a while."                                                                               Dallas Willard "It strikes me increasingly just how hard-pressed people are nowadays. It’s as though they’re tearing about from one emergency to another. Never solitary, never still, never really free but always busy about something that just can’t wait. You get the impression that, amid this frantic hurly-burly, we lose touch with life itself. We have the experience of being busy while nothing real seems to happen. The more agitated we are, and the more compacted our lives become, the more difficult it is to keep a space where God can let something truly new really take place."   ...

  Retreats Die Gesprek Elemente Uit Die Gesprek "If you don't come away for a while, you will come apart after a while."                                                                                  Dallas Willard "It strikes me increasingly just how hard-pressed people are nowadays. It’s as though they’re tearing about from one emergency to another. Never solitary, never still, never really free but always busy about something that just can’t wait. You get the impression that, amid this frantic hurly-burly, we lose touch with life itself. We have the experience of being busy while nothing real seems to happen. The more agitated we are, and the more compacted our lives become, the more difficult it is to keep a space where God can let something truly new really take place." ...

God is actually quite wild and dangerous, but we domesticated divine experience so much that a vast majority of people have left the search entirely, finding most religious people to be fearful conformists instead of adventurous seekers of Love and Mystery.                                                                                                      Richard Rohr I’m hesitant to call it the touch of God and it is not because I’m afraid that I will sound over-pious. From my own experiences in daily living, retreats, times of uncertainty, fear, joy and consolation I've discovered that such a description is too soft and gentle. This is more forceful, deliberate, like feeling the firm grip of a hand on your arm or ...

I have always loved this line from Michael Cunningham’s Pulitzer Prize winning novel  The Hours . We experience the truth of it constantly in our work in the retreats, spiritual direction and listening. What you see is quite often not what you get and patient love is required to bring us to the point where we really get to know our deep self and reveal something of it to another person. The gentle, delicate way in which God goes about doing that never ceases to amaze Matilda and me. We also know that we have to treat that very vulnerable part of being human with the greatest respect and care. George

We have found that a very handy tool to use in meditation or any quiet practice is drawings. It helps to free us from the tyranny of the rational mind and leads to unexpected insight and discoveries, literally something not being thought of. You can make your own drawings or experiment with doodles. The use of existing drawings or intricate designed patterns is another option. There are lovely mandalas (literally meaning “circle”) available on the internet that can be downloaded or printed. At our recent introductory retreat into mindfulness, we had copies of mandalas available for retreatants to choose from should they wish to use it in their meditation sessions. For the uninformed it might have looked like pages from a child’s colouring book lying scattered on the table. After you’ve chosen your mandala or mandalas (we suggested that they take two each at this specific retreat) it is totally up to you to use it or discard it. And should you decide to use it the ways in which...

At the beginning of this particular year we are quite excited here at The Restory. We foresee that many things that have long been in the germinating phase will sprout and show its leaves in 2015. The Restory is becoming operational this year. We are starting with our retreats (See our Retreats page at the top of the blog) in February. On the dates not set aside for specific retreats we are receiving people for quite days and personal retreats. This all takes place against the backdrop of us being committed to live what we preach here at Barrowfield – a life with specific focus on simplicity, nature, creativity and silence. We shall therefore still be busy with our own creativity and projects in workshop and studio, seeing people for spiritual direction and our writing.  Speaking of writing: practice, mistakes and experience have helped us to consolidate our thoughts of the last couple of years and do some fine-tuning that we hope will help you, our readers, as well. ...

Photograph by Hanna Jacobs. Sculpture by Matilda Clifford.  As 2014 draws to a close, we look forward to welcoming in the new year with the renovations of bathroom facilities completed and the old stone house ready to receive guests for the range of retreats we have planned. We feel excited about what had slowly but surely been unfolding in the course of the year. Our many visitors had shown us the way in preparing ourselves and The Restory for what we came here to do: to create a place of quiet and rest for weary souls. To catch a glimpse of retreats for 2015, please follow the link:  About our Retreats  that you will also find at the top of the Blog home page. Matilda

In May 2010, George and I attended a workshop led by Richard Rohr in Cape Town at the Schoenstatt Retreat and Training Centre . One afternoon, in our free time, we decided to visit the historic wine estate of Groot Constantia, which is within walking distance of the retreat centre. It was rather chilly with heavy clouds hanging low, but we donned our rain jackets and ignored the faint drizzle that had started to come down. I am so glad we did: We were due for a very special perfomance that we knew nothing of in advance, but wouldn't have missed for all the world if we did.  In the comments following George's post,   Whistle while you work ,   he reminded me of an Afrikaans piece I had written shortly after this very special encounter. It touches on what seems to be a golden rule: To whistle or sing heartily while working is not depended on the circumstances. But it greatly enhances the lives of all and sunder. I can only agree with my friend Elmi's comment: " Durin...

When we started The Restory News as an e-mail newsletter in September 2011, we saw it as the taking root of a part of a dream we had. At that stage it was mainly the writing-about-it-part. The bigger dream that stimulated and still stimulates our writing, looks something like this: We want to promote conscious living, a life lived close to nature and the rhythms of the seasons, where you tap into your own creativity and apply it. It must be a quiet place where you get to know yourself, get in touch with that self and ultimately with God. “God in all things” must not be a mere concept but a guide to discovery, surprise and amazement – a way of life. Ultimately it is about tapping into the holy and the powerful that we believe is ever-present and waiting for us and not so much the creation of something new on our part. From experience we do not want to do something that requires over-complicated structures and ends up in a list of projects and activities that have to be main...