If you look on the website you will hopefully see that a new option has been added to the main menu. #SensingSpirituality has been a theme running through Quartz activities from around 2015. This means that we have built up a track record of resources, both in ideas and experiments where we test those ideas out. Some of the time we even manged to get photos and written descriptions of what we were doing!
These are (slowly) being added to this website. They are also available in a draft printable text copy. The online version will be able to go beyond the limitations of print though, and allows readers to dip in and out finding out what interests them.
You can get access to both of versions by using the menu button or by clicking this link
Please comment, share and get in touch if you want to become involved in developing this sort of thing. If you have been involved, get in touch sot that we can add your memories to the resource as well.
Gathering by the water to eat fish and share stories
Where the River Nith meets the Cluden water at Lincluden
This Forest Church experience was set up to provide participants with the opportunity to immerse themselves in the gospel stories where the disciples meet with Jesus at the waters edge, and share fish roasted over coals with him.
This is a popular spot for people to gather and enjoy swimming in the river. It is a short walk from town, but the scrub woodland and ruined Abbey provide a boundary to create a sanctuary of wild space hidden right next to the A75. Easter was early enough in the year for us to be sharing the beach with only one other group though – and dog walkers.
Those who came brought food with them as well. We shared the fire and enjoyed discovering what everyone had brought. As we sat and cooked we took it in turns to tell sections of the story of Easter. Starting in the upper room where Jesus gathered with his disciples to break bread and drink wine. The stories were interlaced with reflections and songs. The story wove its way through time until we met it again in a shared experience of sitting by water and enjoying the sharing of food and drink in the presence of Jesus.
As a mark of the day some people chose to cast a cross in a simple soapstone mould. In itself melting the metal, purifying it with fire and then watching it take the shape prepares for it, can be a symbolic and heartfelt action. The cross which is cast then needs cleaning and can be carried as a reminder and connection to the experience throughout the year.
A journey of anticipation between Good Friday and Easter Sunday
This year we took advantage of the space between Good Friday and Easter Sunday to go on a journey of discovery. We met up in the morning at St Johns in Dumfries and then travelled west, collecting together as a group on the way.
Coffee at the Whithorn trust
We were welcomed at the Whithorn Trust for a break and a much appreciated coffee! It was here that we were introduced to the historical setting for the story of St Ninian. We also so something of the current activities of the trust. As well as welcoming tourists and pilgrims on the St Ninians way, they are also running projects to develop skills in local young people to keep the crafts alive that are required to maintaing the traditional buildings in the area and rebuild replicas of historical buildings.
few bluebells today!
Their centre also hold an exhibition of artefacts from the archaeological dig in the 1980’s to recent research like the 3D reconstruction of the face of a bishop from his physical remains cared for in the Abbey. Whithorn might look like a quiet town today, but the streets have been shaped by a history of being the principle “go to location” for kings on pilgrimage.
well-made remains from an earlier age
After our break, we took a short drive to the St Ninians cave car park. We left modern transport behind and continued on foot down to the coast. The path leads through a forest, sometimes filled with bluebells although we were there too early for a full carpet. The transition through the wood gives time to slow down, to notice the details of growing things, and to prepare. Moving through space to change ones mindset. Opening ones mind to experience sensations both physical and spiritual that we can become less aware of in the grind of daily life.
Signs of things to come
There is short rise just before the path reaches the beach, and the beach itself is made from stones banked up by the waves. This means that when you walk the final few steps on the path the ground lifts you up as you reach the beach and then the horizon opens up to give you a view of where the Solway meets the Irish sea.
walking towards the cave
The beach is very different environment to the forest. Stone water and sky dominate your experience. There are patterns in the pebbles. If you look out to sea sometimes Mannanan lifts his cloak and reveals the Isle of Man. I often imagine the many ways in which the sea connects us globally. Something which looks like a barrier can become the means to travel and for messages to spread. There is a changed quality in ambient light too. Just standing and experiencing the refreshment of the place without the need to exercise intellect is refreshing for the soul.
We then approached the cave. There are many caves associated with saints in Scotland and the tradition of finding remote places to sit and contemplate is not unique to Christianity. This cave has been associated with the Story of Ninian for thousands of years. The ornate carved crosses that it once held have been moved to care for them in the town of Whithorn. The surface of the cave and cliff face is covered with crosses and names carved by visitors though. What is it about being in the same physical place as a legend that is so special?
We stopped there for lunch. Some took time to wander and think while others enjoyed chatting, or looking at the view.
After a while I gave people the opportunity to cast a pilgrim badge as a record of their journey. The badge is based on one found near Holywood in Dumfries. At one time there was an industry producing badge like these. I compare them to the way in which people will buy a frame from their favourite film, frame it, and hang it on their wall. We are physical creatures and there is a connection between the things we can touch and see and those we cannot. For some this may simply be a reminder of a memory, for others there is a deeper significance.
It has been said that “I hear I forget, I see I remember, I do I understand” Pouring hot metal certainly focuses the mind on the moment and the task in hand!
And then it was time to return. Walking back through the woodland and letting the experience settle. For some this was not the first time they had visited the cave, and for many it wont be the last. Each journey is different though and perhaps some of those who travelled will post about their experiences in the comments!
Or how many various experiences both positive and negative contribute to your understanding of what mothering and motherhood is?
How does that relate to husbandry?
As Quartz Forest Church we have been meeting in a very managed estate for over a year now. The grass is mown, the flowerbeds weeded and it is as well managed as a family offered up for a morning service in their Sunday best clothes.
Even in the most pristine and culturally conservative setting though, verses from the bible challenge the status quo. The rich and respectable are warned that it is the poor and marginalised who more often recognise the prophets. Those who lead armies are reminded that the king of the world won through mounting a cross and in dying fulfilled the promise of creation. Even in the texts there is a wildness that challeges human rationality. An earthy humour that pokes fun at us when we elevate our religion to an untouchable status and make it sterile.
Likewise, even within this managed estate, whether that is described as husbandry or mothering, there is an uncontrollable energy. We will take time out this Sunday to look for the deep green and echoes of wild vitality. We will pause to sense ways in which the landscape reminds us that we are participants in our relationship with the rest of creation. Even though we shape the landscape, our environment also shapes us.
Please join us at 2pm if you are near Dumfries, or send comments from wherever you are in the world!
The next Forest Church gathering for April will be on Easter Sunday
The sentiment that humans are more than their physical elements.
Some experiences are special. Life is more than just it’s physical components. There can be moments where we sense something that can be described as sublime. Mystics experience transcendence, and then spend the rest of their lives trying to explain it in a way which avoids disrespecting the experience. Whatever metaphysics you use to understand these experiences, taking time out to become mindful of the otherness of where you are, the specialness of this particular moment, can help enrich your ordinary experience of everyday life.
Experiences of awe, wonder and mystery about the natural world. Often also sensed when contemplating human achievement and for some divinity.
This pot was buried containing objects which were significant to their owners, but what did they mean? Galloway Hoard.Balmaghie.Castle Douglas, Dumfries.
Meet outside Crichton chapel at 2pm on January the 15th, 2023
“Why must people kneel down to pray? If I really wanted to pray I’ll tell you what I’d do. I’d go out into a great big field all alone or in the deep, deep woods and I’d look up into the sky—up—up—up—into that lovely blue sky that looks as if there was no end to its blueness. And then I’d just feel a prayer.”
There are many ways to pray, and prayer is inspired in many forms. This Sunday we will meet up outdoors and in the company of the trees, birds, and growing things we will explore praying with them. Before I describe the plan for meeting on Sunday in more detail, and especially for those reading this online who will be unable to join us, I have this YouTube clip.
The Hymn is Icelandic, and as one who smiths it particularly resonates with me. Whether surrounded by the green, or industry in a railway station, or in a building built to glorify the Divine, I suspect that the beginning of inheriting the richness of prayer is to stop and sense a changed quality of awareness.
We meet in Jesus name. Whether you consider yourself a close friend or are just curious, we meet in Christs peace. Peace be with you.
Share a sign of peace
Reading the text
“At this also my heart trembles and leaps out of its place.Listen, listen to the thunder of his voice and the rumbling that comes from his mouth.Under the whole heaven he lets it loose, and his lightning to the corners of the earth.After it his voice roars; he thunders with his majestic voice, and he does not restrain the lightnings[a] when his voice is heard.God thunders wondrously with his voice; he does great things that we cannot comprehend.For to the snow he says, ‘Fall on the earth’; and the shower of rain, his heavy shower of rain,serves as a sign on everyone’s hand, so that all whom he has made may know it.[b]
Then the animals go into their lairs and remain in their dens.From its chamber comes the whirlwind and cold from the scattering winds.By the breath of God ice is given, and the broad waters are frozen fast.He loads the thick cloud with moisture; the clouds scatter his lightning.They turn round and round by his guidance to accomplish all that he commands them on the face of the habitable world.Whether for correction or for his land or for love, he causes it to happen …
7 Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word that you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new commandment that is true in him and in you, because[a] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says, “I am in the light,” while hating a brother or sister, is still in the darkness. Whoever loves a brother or sister abides in the light, and in such a person[b] there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates a brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness.
Trees drink through deep roots and hidden networks, then cast their seeds widely on the wind and to the ground. We slow down in winter, and tend to burrow in warm places. Even the cold frost plays it’s part in bringing about a release from dormancy though when the time is right for seeds to germinate*.
With the firmness of the trees and the trust of creatures, we look to you, Creator of life, to sustain and keep us.
Reading Creation
Today we are focusing on prayer. Try working with one of the following, or listen and respond as you feel led.
Find a tree to stand next to, or lean against. Contemplate the ways in which trees draw nutrients up from the ground and produce leaves, and transform CO2 with light into chemical energy and water. This then allows roots to grow.
As you lean on the tree with your feet on earth and your head in heaven, what are you inspired to “Carry up” to heaven? What does your heart desire to bring down into earth?
Take time to intercede, aware of both the bitter and the sweet.
Great Light, we are aware of the darkness of this season, but we are also aware the the natural light will increase from here on. Help us to walk in your ways so that we can play our p[art in righteous living, as you work within us to increase the light to its full brightness. Amen
We are surrounded by temporary things, and even human creations that impress us by their antiquity are fleeting moments in geological terms. But even broken things bring new life.
Stone broken from bedrock become buildings, organic matter rots down to enrich the soil.
Creator of light and life, you stepped into the world as one of us. your incarnation made you physically one with the world which you created. Through your humanity and divinity you reconciled all creation back to you. May I live a life which reflects this understanding of total reconciliation. Amen
David Cole, The Celtic Year, p37
Gather
We gather together again. Perhaps a song, or chant, will be relevant. If anyone has been inspired with something that will be of benefit to the gathering, this is a time to share it.
Grace
May the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.
Now and evermore,
Amen
Coffee and cake, or alternative …
We often end up at the central café (occasionally we have a picnic or use a Kelly kettle instead). This is an opportunity to share refreshment and chat about our experiences.
