The Restory Retreat Centre

Our Wise Guide - Our Body Hello everyone Still no recording. Which is half unexpected, because we should've been better this week from the cold/flu we had last week. Well, that's not the case. Matilda is getting better, but her strength is still low. George has to behave even more quietly than last week, after the doctor diagnosed him with bronchitis. There is no doubt in our minds that such times of less activity and rest are essential. Our bodies are wise guides that take us to places that lie outside the sphere of our heads. It does not help to fight against those bodily messages. However, it is striking how difficult it is often for us to scale back and become quieter. How our inability to be busy, to finish things and to look back on a productive day plays into our identity and mood. How easily we feel guilty. What we use as criteria to justify our existence. Such a time of illness brings you back to the meaning and value of the spiritual truths that have become clearer to...

  5 Months In Gradually our eyes are learning the contours of our place . This is our business, here at The Restory: building fires. However, on our own we can't gather enough wood. The Conversation  Elements From The Conversation  Music By two things my life has been made more livable for me: the love I have given  and the love I have received. C.J Langenhoven                                With our love. And deep gratitude for the love we receive. George & Matilda 

Photo by George Angus Covid-19 and 2020 are obviously now linked into eternity. But I’ll remember the winter of 2020 for my discovery of 2 things: -          A teapot cosy, and -          A hot water bottle Of course none of these are new inventions, or a novel product entering the market. It is not as if I’ve never seen it being used. Matilda has been preparing hot water bottles on going to bed for as long as I can remember and I grew up with a teapot cosy always somewhere in one of the drawers in the house. But during this winter everything changed. It became close and personal. As with most good things in my life, Matilda’s hand is quite prominent here as well.  On one particular cold morning, our 10h30 teapot appeared on the tray totally covered with a cosy (neither the spout nor handle could be seen). When I lifted that cover to pour our tea it was like the unveilin...

Photo: George Angus I put the big cushion on my lap as I sit down. Wordlessly waiting. He knows. How, I do not know, but he knows. I hear him coming in from outside, deliberately  walking down the passage and into the room. I do not see him. I sit with eyes closed. I feel the soft landing as he jumps onto my lap. He kneads the cushion for a moment, purring, and settles in. I fold my hands in prayer around his cold, strong hunter’s body. Gradually, we become one warmth. “But oh! God is in his holy temple! Quiet everyone – a holy silence. Listen!” * * Habakkuk 2:20 (The Message) George

As if you were on fire from within. The moon lives in the lining of your skin.                                                                            Pablo Neruda “Cold weather we’re having, isn’t it?” She asked me while writing out the invoice for the steel I had just purchased. The small office was crammed with boxes and pieces that awaited collection. A dirty poster against the wall showed the components of lorry suspensions. “Yes” I said “and apparently the worst is yet to come over this weekend.” Without looking up she said: “Fortunately we leave earlier on a Friday afternoon. I told my husband this morning, ‘This is ideal soup weather.’ On my way home I am going to buy soup meat, so I can make us some this evening. But first I have another appointment.” The way s...