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Day Walk this Saturday (13th April) - Tintern Abbey and the Wye Valley
Wednesday 10th April 2019
Iain Tweedale
When do people long to go on pilgrimage? In April says Geoffrey Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales. With spring in the air, we gather at historic Tintern Abbey before setting out in a spirit of pilgrimage to explore this lovely part of the Wye Valley immortalised by Wordsworth's poem that showed the importance of nature to Christianity in the Romantic movement of the early nineteenth century. Along the way, we'll walk part of Offa's Dyke, discover Brockweir village with its whitewashed Moravian Chapel on the banks of the river and walk up into the green pastures beyond. The Walk at seven miles is of medium length with moderate terrain involving some rocky section which can be slippy underfoot if it's wet.…
Pilgrim Diary
Monday 8th April 2019
Iain Tweedale
A group from Journeying set out for a short holiday in the Brecon Beacons In Wales. John Muir, the founder of the National Parks movement in the US, once said: "Keep close to Nature's heart and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean." This is what we did, camping in the heart of this beautiful national park. The holiday had spectacular mountain scenery, waterfalls and secluded wooded valleys and the Holy Spirit was the theme. We followed the spiritual significance of water from the springs and lakes in the mountains down the fast owing streams to the famous waterfall country, which has the largest concentration…
Hiraeth
Friday 5th April 2019
Alona Harris
Hiraeth - a longing of the soul to come home. When I first came across this word, I felt that is it! That describes how I feel when I come to Wales. But then as I read further, it seems that most feel the definition of hireath cannot be translated easily, or at all, into English. Over many years of traveling to Wales with the Pilgrims, then the Journey folk and on my own; I feel a strong affinity for the country and its' people. It actually starts with the landing in Ireland during the long slow descent through the most luscious green valley; cares, worries and any mental distractions are left behind. Then…
Creation in all its Glory
Tuesday 2nd April 2019
Adele Trapnell
"Praise to the holiest in the heights and in the depths be praise". This line from the well-known hymn is the essence of what Journeying means to me and brings to mind my first 'Pilgrim Adventure' in June 2002, as well as my most recent in April 2014. My first adventure took me to the tiny island of Skellig Michael, off the south-west coast of Ireland, where 6th century monks lived and worshipped their creator. Wishing to live a life of sacrifice and faith, much in the spirit of St Anthony going out into the desert, they built tiny 'beehive' huts on the top of this remote rocky island which are still standing today... …
Llandaff Cathedral
Saturday 30th March 2019
David Arkell
Stately towers of grandeur fine Framing noble, weighty doors; Offering pilgrims restful pause Down the centuries' coursing time. Enter now this hallowed place, Let the outside world subside; Worries and fears allayed; abide. Feel the moment, present space. Vast dimensions, spacious scope, Tombs encasing history's bones; Massive columns, ancient stones Built by labourers' concrete hope. Air with incense sweet imbued, Portly arches stretching high; Windows stained in motley dye, Dimness strange of light subdued. Choir's wafty tones ascend, Sonorous notes of pipes ornate; Haunting chants and psalms elate, Harmony's striking colours blend; Range of pitch from depth to height, Resonant echo, glorious sound; Vibrant expansion, fullness round, Glimpsing angels' chorus white. Rousing hymns, spirits raised, Minds infused with inspiration; Joined in chords of exultation, Christ our Lord, His name be praised! Inspired by a visit…
Y Journey - the youth wing of Journeying
Wednesday 27th March 2019
Jon Wilkinson
Y Journey was conceived in 2010 when two Church leaders sat down at a party and began to imagine what a Journeying holiday might look like for teenagers. The fundamental question was this; Can todays teenagers, in our loud, media saturated, information intense culture, meaningfully experience God in creation, the journey, in one another? Well, we decided to give it a go, and with the enthusiastic backing of the Journeying leadership we launched Y Journey in 2011 in the Yorkshire Dales. Naturally, a Y Journey holiday differs in some respects from a conventional Journeying holiday as we are working with high octane, energy filled young people. However, the core values of Journeying were built into the structure…
Dolphins
Sunday 24th March 2019
Cate Macfarlane
Listening to the music of the blue-green sea, suddenly the rhythm changed. Out of the depths they rose . . . Dolphis. Side by side forming a perfect arc as a prelude to their extraordinary sea dance. They glanced before gracefully dipping and rising again. Mesmerised we watched and listened to the gentle harmony of their breathing. Effortlessly gliding and weaving through the waves, they escorted us across their homeland, the sea. As we marvelled at their performance, they vanished to the depths, where there is no beginning and no end. They had asked for nothing... Cate added; "My thoughts, following the display as we crossed the sea between Tiree and Iona"
Reflections on Ensay
Thursday 21st March 2019
Carole Hodgkins
I'm an oystercatcher wild and free Soaring in flight over the Ensay sea. I am boldly patterned in black and white, My orange-red legs are a brilliant sight. I have a stout red bill and shrill piping cry. There are people on Ensay and I'm wondering why. Is it the stillness, the peace, or the sheep, The house or the chapel, or the charms of the deep? High I fly over sand and dune, Freedom and song my good fortune. Who is the figure I see below? Where has she come from - where will she go? I'm an oystercatcher without discontent. To follow the Master is my intent. The figure I see is an Adventure Pilgrim, Who strives like me to follow Him! To share the earth, the sky and…
The Skellig Isles
Monday 18th March 2019
David Gleed
Ten pilgrims, a small boat and a distant island... Eight miles off the coast of County Kerry the stark pointed rock of Skellig Michael explodes out of a 280-foot-deep sea and soars up a further 720 feet. For years, Great Skellig, the larger of two adjacent islands, was home to perhaps the most isolated Christian community the world has ever known. Pilgrims take risks - the Christian journey is an adventure! It was barely four years since our previous trip to these shores. On that occasion, we had become marooned on an island and becalmed on a boat without fuel! But on this particular June morning, with the sun shining and a well-equipped boat waiting to whisk us off to…
