thank-fullness

 I have previously blogged about a fantastic television series called The Monastery and the subsequent book 'Finding Sanctuary''.  You can read more about this at  http://www.findingsanctuary.org/

This week my discussion group started on working through this book, with a combination of quiet reflection, journalling and conversation.

We began by talking about thankfulness and this weeks leader of the group asked us to read Psalm 139 and then write down (in our shiny new journals), our reflections, or our list of things we were thankful for.

It was just amazing to discover than in fact, not one of us made a list of things at all.  We all had very different views on what we were thankful for, and most had to do with feelings rather than things, or experiences (well, we are all women after all...).

For me, I got stuck.  I think I already go on too much about all the good things in my life - to the extent that perhaps I sound like I protest too much!  But I wrote down ''thankfullness'' at the top of the page and stared at it blankly for a few minutes.  And there it was:  my untended spelling mistake was my moment of clarity.  Perhaps being thank-full means being content with what you have, and considering that ''á quiver full'' rather than listing everything individually (hence highlighting what we DONT have).  Perhaps being thank-full, or thank-filled, means just being, not doing, saying, acting.  Just being.

What would you say you are thankful for?  To whom?  Are you satisfied with what you have, or are you always looking for the next thing to add to the list?

The Monastery

By chance (or was it...) I picked up a book in a church library when visiting there for a work meeting.
Called 'Finding Sanctuary'', it was written by the Abbot of Worth Abbey, after an incredibly successful BBC series was filmed there.

You can find more information at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Monastery_(BBC_TV_series).

At the beginning of the documentary the Abbot describes silence (a key aspect to Benedictine life) as a spiritual bath, that you can get into to relax your spiritual muscles .That has to be the best way I have ever heard a way of embarking on a spiritual journey described, and it motivated me to look at an episode in entirety...And so I have spent this afternoon watching the complete series on YouTube and found it absolutely compelling.  the warmth and human-ness of the monks, the fact that the BBC didn't make this some sensationalised or titillating bit of reality-TV, and that the programme is about the real struggles of real people and trying to make sense of the world.

The book is much the same - sure it deals with spiritual matters, but it's written in such accessible language and is so hands-on one could almost forget it's intention!  I've been dipping in and out - just like a warm bath, and finding each chapter leaves me just a little more relaxed, a little more at ease with my spiritual life and body.