The Restory Retreat Centre

  Under Difficult Circumstances The Conversation (The sound in the background that you hear at some point during the conversation, is Skhumbuzo mowing the lawn with the tractor. Here it is a case of: when the sun shines, you try to make a dent in the grass.) Elements From The Conversation Sebastien visiting with family between hospital admissions Music "My life has been made livable by two things: the love that I've given and the love that I've received." CJ Langenhoven                                      Thank you. George & Matilda

Matilda and I discovered contemplative spirituality, as an element of the age-old Christian mystical tradition, in our middle ages. “Discover” is probably not the right word. We grew into it, it grew on and in us, through our reading we were gently and graciously guided and called into it, our religious disillusionments and disappointments and the longing for the more led us to it, very difficult periods in our lives and emotional crisis prepared us for it and almost made it inevitable. As is the case with so much in this type of spirituality it is shrouded in mystery and paradox. To such an extent that you find that the phrase No one catches the wild ass by running,  and yet only those who run ever catch the wild ass. exactly expresses what has happened, without clarifying it at all. I probably use the word “discover” to describe the process, because it says something of the fact that this was not a tradition we were familiar with or were exposed to in our...