The Restory Retreat Centre

  Giving And Receiving The Conversation Elements From The Conversation And probably the biggest gift we can give: to give birth to God in our own lives and circumstances.  Music We wish you a blessed, beautiful Christmas.  With our love.  George & Matilda

WHAT I HEARD AT THE DISCOUNT DEPARTMENT STORE Don’t touch that. And stop your whining too. Stop it. I mean it. You know I do. If you don’t stop, I’ll give you fucking something to cry about right here and don’t you think I won’t either. So she did. She slapped him across the face. And you could hear the snap of flesh against flesh half-way across the store. Then he wasn’t whining anymore. Instead, he wept. His little body heaved and shivered and wept. He was seven or eight. She was maybe thirty. Above her left breast, the pin said: Nurse’s Aide. Now they walk hand in hand down the aisle between the tables piled with tennis shoes and underpants and plastic bags of socks. I told you I would. You knew I would. You can’t get away with shit like that with me, You know you can’t. You’re not in school anymore. You’re with your mother now. You can get away with fucking murder there, but you can’t get away with shit like that with me. Stop that cry...

A woman came to the Maggid of Koznitz asking him to pray for her that she have a child. “My mother too was unhappy as you are,” said the Maggid. “Then one day she met the Baal Shem Tov and presented him with a beautiful cape. One year later I was born.” The woman’s eyes brightened. “I will make you the most beautiful cape in the world!” she said. The Maggid smiled and shook his head. “I am afraid that will not work,” he said. “You see, my mother did not know this story.” Abraham J. Twerski: Living Each Day

Photograph by Elliott Erwitt, New York City 1953 We cannot attain the presence of God because we're already totally in the presence of God. What's absent is awareness.                                                                                          David G. Benner In a previous post ( Klein Kaper ) Matilda wrote about the new arrival in the household, the kitten named Patat (Patat being Afrikaans for sweet potato and commonly used as a term of endearment especially where children are concerned). Lately he is often called Tappet as well (Tappet is an English word used in Afrikaans to describe a person somewhat rough around the edges. For some reason “tappet” just does not have a similar meaning in English). Since Matilda introduced him he has g...

My mother's tiny art work. Photo by Matilda Mother’s Day in South Africa. This morning, being a mother and all, I granted myself an extra half an hour of lying in bed. I lay thinking about my children, all three of them more than a four hours’ drive from us. I felt like thanking them for being the ones to bring me to motherhood. I left it at that, knowing that they will all call during the day and make this a special day, even though we have never gone overboard with this kind of commemoration. I then opened my journal as I do most every morning. From between the pages and into my lap fell a tiny artwork. A small cameo of lacey leaves and flowers set into a small card. The artist: my mother. How did it get there? I honestly cannot remember putting it there. Maybe during the move it had surfaced somewhere and needed to be kept safe in order to later add it to the collection I have of my mother’s art work. The synchronicity of it though made me sit up and take notice. Since she...

I asked, "Why have I received only this?" A voice replied, "'Only this' will lead you to That. From the facebook page of Rumi                                                                                                                                        It is always difficult to put a dire personal situation ou...