Blog (Latest News, Info and Updates)
Twenty Years of Journeying
Tuesday 23rd February 2021
Steve Evemy
Twenty years ago, my wife saw an advert in the Church Times for a trip to Saint Kilda. She knew that I had read about this remote place, and suggested that I book myself onto the trip. So, I did. Before then I had never been north of Edinburgh. I went with an old school-friend, and enjoyed the experience. That was my first contact with Journeying, then called Pilgrim Adventure. The following year I took my older son, John, who was then 12, on a Journeying trip to SW Ireland. He still remembers climbing Skellig Michael, and seeing the puffins scurrying to their burrows within a few feet of us, as do I. …
Journey into silence and contemplation
Monday 15th February 2021
Karen Garrett
Hi I'm Karen and I live in the beautiful Isle of Man and this is my faith journey... It started when I was a child but became real as a teenager and older adult. Over the years my faith developed through attending and leading youth groups, being part of a Beach Mission team for over 30 years, and going to various gospel rallies and Spring Harvest in the early eighties. Going from a small Island to a massive tent full of worshippers at Prestatyn was a bit of a shock to my system at first but it became an annual event for a few years. Looking back, I realise how important it had been to me to be nourished away from traditional Church.…
Evensong
Friday 29th January 2021
David Harkell
Sky azure, faintest breeze, Golden twilight orb lies low; Rays too weak to lift the freeze, Woods beclothed in orange glow. Rigid, sombre, naked trees, Rooted under layers of time; Branches covered once with leaves, Unprotected now from rime. Crispy grass, crunchy mud, Stagnant streams in ditches dim. Fields stark drenched by flood, Scarce a bird on perch or wing. Glistening cobwebs, clodded earth, Ploughed-up furrows creviced deep. Silvery haze of moonlight's birth, Shimmering beams inducing sleep. Murky mere in forest glade, Surface masking hidden bed. Shadows lurk as daytime's fade Cedes to dusk's encroaching tread. Sinking 'neath the pink horizon, Solar halo ebbs away; Darkness spreads his mantle iron, Night arriving, fleeing day. Paling embers slowly die, Wispy clouds exchanging hue. Twinkling stars catching eye, Sprinkled heavens' generous strew. Eerie silence steals, becalms; Echoes past of hectic bustle. Stillness casts her gentle charms, Easing inner, tensive tussle. Blackness lays his mood…
Lakeland Journey
Tuesday 19th January 2021
David Gleed
This June, 2021, we once again travel to the Lake District in England's North West. Here's a look back to an earlier trip in 1991... The beautiful Lakes, that collection of poetic landscapes, vistas and waters in the far north west of England - a favourite tramping ground of poets and pilgrims alike... Bristol, Birmingham, the journey for many began with a pick-up in the minibus. "Hello and this is... and shall I put your bag on the roof?" And then we were off again; Lancaster, Preston... Two hours at a stretch, no more and then a break for refreshment, often at a motorway service station - I came to like these places; little Oasis on the…
Advent Poems
Tuesday 22nd December 2020
ADVENT By Jennifer Rowell A very special time of year. D istant music - church bells ring. V isual imprints on our minds. But wait - E mmanuel, Jesus is coming, angels are singing. N o pretence this time. T riumphant return of Christ our King. At last. BONFIRE By Elizabeth Fenney Too many voices alive and dead profane the silence in my head. I rake in memory's ache, hoist high thorny freight, weight of story not told, remembered; plunge it into bonfire's core. Pungent as incense rises the flame. Blaze roars, smelts gold from soul's dross in scorched embers; calms itself, sound gone to ground, gash of ash place of grace. I step from my shoes sole on earth await what God will bring to birth. A POEM FOR ADVENT By Sue Peachey "The bells of waiting Advent ring" Is how the poem goes, But when will our bells ring…
Skellig Michael
Friday 11th December 2020
David Gleed
The Skellig Isles lie eight miles off the coast of County Kerry, Ireland. For years, Skellig Michael, the larger of the two adjacent islands, was home to perhaps the most isolated Christian community the world has ever known... Journeying has travelled to Skellig Michael on several occasions. We recently re-discovered this poem written following our visit in 2004. SKELLIG MICHAEL Mysterious Skellig, awesome rock, Atlantic force for thy embrace - Today to me your strength unlock To share with saints of old, your face. Great Skellig! O wondrous Skellig, living rock Adorned with flowers of vibrant hue, Where sea birds for their nesting flock And God still speaks - with words anew. Great Skellig! (Jennifer Smith. May…
Pilgrims and Poets
Wednesday 21st October 2020
Janet Wilkes
Journeying counts several writers and artists among both guests and leaders. Janet Wilkes has travelled as a guest on a number of occasions. Her most recent poem, The Table, is printed here. Janet has also published a book, After The Blossom, a memoir, that includes her working life in London and Christian journey. We will feature the book in a later blog. The Table By Janet Wilkes A woman filled with gratitude this morning put her tea-tray on the table. Outside - barely visible - was the garden she'd created. The flowers had gone but there were still green leaves. "I'm alive" she thought "and grateful for all of this." She sipped her tea and, as the morning air drew back the curtains of the night, she became…
For Love Alone
Tuesday 9th June 2020
David Gleed
During an autumn holiday on the Island of Iona, Sister Agnes felt a calling from God to bring the religious life back to the Scottish Islands. Back in her Convent in Devon it was to be seven years (to the day) since setting foot on Iona, that Sister Agnes arrived on the remote Shetland Island of Fetlar... That same call came again. On this occasion, however, God seemed to say to her, 'You may answer yes, or you may answer no. It's your choice, though if you answer no, it will be the end of your vocation as it is meant to be, and I shall ask you no more.' Sister Agnes said, Yes! The story of the years leading up to…
Book Review: The Way Under our Feet - A Spirituality of Walking. By Graham B Usher
Monday 11th May 2020
Reviewer: David Gleed
My attention Instantly grabbed by the title, I was further delighted to find the text wonderfully light and very readable - just right for warm spring days in the 'lockdown' garden! The book moves effortlessly from one facet of walking to another - pilgrimage, the significance of the Emmaus walk, labyrinths and so on - carrying the reader on a journey that draws you towards the next page. Along the way there are some fascinating observations, some more unexpected than others - I was amazed to learn hip operations can be undertaken with the patient fully conscious and with the expectation that the patient is up and starting to be mobile later that day or early the next! Walking with our…
Access to the Countryside after Lockdown Ends
Wednesday 29th April 2020
Christine Smith
As we all look forward to the end of the lockdown period thoughts turn to what the future might look like particularly when access to the countryside is so important. When it is safe we are keen to see all the paths that were closed re-open to walkers. Journeying leader, Christine Smith, has been taking a closer look and there are some concerns that not all paths will re-open even when the lockdown fully ends. In the article below she identifies which organisations in the UK are responsible for different types of paths and who we can speak to if we want to ensure access returns when restrictions have finally been lifted: "In the British countryside, we are living through unprecedented…