The Restory Retreat Centre

“We give God a name.  We then equate God with the name we have given him,  and in doing so we make ourselves, in effect, God’s God.  Instead of acknowledging God as the source of our identity and existence,  we make ourselves the self-proclaimed source of God’s identity.  God then becomes the one made in our image and likeness. Those engaged in the undertaking of naming God  see themselves as participating in a holy work.  They are the God-definers, the definition makers.”                                                                                                              -    James Finley Wat ek hier skryf volg na aanleiding van '...

Jerusalem Nowhere is there more prayer. The Nuns at the Holy Sepulchre. The faithful at Al Aqsa Mosque. The worshippers at the Wall. The call to prayer at dawn and dusk Warbling from the citadels. The church bells, The Persian trills, The passion spilled over texts From every major/minor religious sect. Nowhere is there more prayer than Jerusalem, Thanks be to God, Hamdilala, Baruch Hashem. And yet, I'm starting to think that it's You and not them, God, what's the point of prayer? If there's nowhere where There's more prayer, And terror reigns Then, Who's to blame? If suddenly, without a whisper goodbye, Jesus, Allah, Adonai, The three men they admire most All took the last train for the coast, And the Moslems got up from their knees And the Christians put down their rosaries And the Jews stayed their hands from kissing Their mezuzahs, And everyone looked up, And realized something's missing... God is missing. Stop ...

The Southern vista from Barrowfield Photo by Hanna Jacobs  I have lived in many places throughout my life. The earliest home I can remember was when I was about four years old and we lived in a tiny hamlet called Mica, where my father took a job as electrician in a vermiculite mine. It was very remote and truly unspoilt. It was glorious for my sister and me but nerve wrecking for my mother. It being very much Africa, there were huge spiders and scorpions and green grasshoppers, not to mention deadly creatures like green mambas and malaria mosquitoes. On weekends my father would take us to the banks of the huge Olifants river and we would watch the hippos lazing in the muddy water. We moved to a bigger mining town when we had to start school and from then on every few years my father would find a different job with better prospects and we would move again. For some of the most memorable places we lived I don't have fond memories of. At one stage, when I was about ten ye...

We are constantly on the lookout for easy and tasty recipes to serve during retreats. The criteria are strict but simple: it has to be comforting and wholesome and often need to meet dietary requirements such as being suitable for vegetarians or diabetics. This lovely dish ticks all the boxes and even meat lovers find nothing amiss. Sebastien takes a shortcut with the lentils that works like a charm: he doesn't cook the lentils beforehand as the original recipe advises, but he pours boiling water over the lentils and let them soak while he prepares the aubergine slices. By the time the dish is assembled, he merely drains the lentils and add them to the pot. They have a lovely texture that way. Serve this moussaka simply piping hot with a crisp salad on the side. And if possible safe some for the next day. It tastes even better then. Picture by Matilda Angus Ingredients: 400g Aubergine (sliced thinly in rounds) 50ml olive oil salt and black pepper 1 red onio...

Photograph by Matilda Angus The Word became flesh and blood, and moved into the neighborhood.                                                                                                      John 1:14   (The Message) On the Living School website, they start off with a few questions: Do you seek contemplative grounding and purpose? Do you long for wisdom elders and companions to share your spiritual journey? “Yes” was our immediate, unspoken, deep-seated...

Photograph by George Angus “God is not found in the soul by adding anything but by a process of subtraction.”                                                                                          Meister Eckhart This past week we’ve started renovating the kitchen. It has been very hard work, ironically not so much renovating but taking down, breaking open, stripping. This morning I stand in the empty shell and look at all the patched cracks, the open rafters, all the wiring and pipes exposed and I ask Matilda: “Will it ever look better aga...

Wakkerstroom Old Bioscope: Photograph by Owen Castleman Cet animal est tres mechant; Quand on l'attaque il se defend. (This animal is very malicious; when attacked it defends itself.)                                                 - La Menagerie (Traditional French song) ~ o  ~ Perhaps all the dragons in our lives are princesses who are only waiting to see us act, just once, with beauty and courage. Perhaps everything that frightens us is, in its deepest essence, something helpless that wants our love.                                              - Rainer Maria Rilke ~ o  ~ When we can see the image o...