Today, 30 June, I step back from The Pastoral Team at The Bield. What follows is my reflection on The Bield after 25 years. It’s been a great adventure for us and now we need to take a step back in order to enjoy The Bield ourselves in a new way, while others continue the work. I won’t mention them all, just love them as best I can. Elsewhere you may find all the information you want about them.
My Reflection has been called various things, but maybe slam doggerel is the best designation for it. You make up your own mind about the style, and hopefully you are able to enjoy what is there and also to nod and say, yeah, I recognise that. If there is something mentioned here that you are not familiar with then I hope you will come to The Bield and explore for yourself to see.
Every blessing and see you some time.
Robin
“It is important to keep our focus on the good that is being done at The Bield.
Remember your feeling of consolation.”
So said my spiritual director Bill Broderick when I went to him feeling down about something at The Bield.
So, I am asking myself as I draw towards retirement from the pastoral team at The Bield, what is the good that is happening at The Bield which Bill said we should keep our focus on?
Succour,
Encouragement,
Healing,
Joy,
Gratitude,
Beauty,
Men’s work,
Women’s work,
Worship,
Prayer,
Praise.
Eating together,
Meeting together
Love,
Care,
Art Exhibitions,
Open gardens,
Smallholding,
Embrace of difference,
Inclusiveness,
Love manifest,
Food produced
Walled Garden splendour,
Touching hearts,
Minds,
Souls,
Bodies,
through
beauty and bounty
Lives transformed,
Ours and Bield guests’
Deepening prayer times
Worship’s togethering
Teams built
Dreams come true
Grace abounding
Many hosted
Touched
Changed
Fed
Formed
Freed
Friended
Blessing
Shekina
Shalom
Salvation
Meals prepared
Beds changed
Floors washed
Spaces hoovered
Shared laughter
Common ground
Conflicts solved
Challenges met
New life ensued
Stability
Staff strength
Our benefit and guests’
Lives unfolded
Confidence built
Growing lives
Growing people
Growing one another
Celebrating life
Learning to love
Learning to mourn together:
Mike, David, Isobel
Faithfulness
Constancy
Shoulders to the wheel
Pulling together
Practical love expressed
Art appreciated
Grounds
Gardens and
Barn
Souls enriched
Eyes opened
Spirits blessed
Truth shared
Discovered
Apprehended
Realised
Nature nurtured
Organic growing
Health restored
Food delicious
Fresh air
Outdoor services
Walking labyrinths
Praying with nature
In nature
For nature
Squirrels running
Streak of red
Rabbits courting
Foxes boxing
Hares dancing
Deer calling
Ravens cawing
Buzzards meowing
Owls hooting
Men around the fire
At night
Birds calling
Birds singing
Flash of blue
Kingfisher and Jay
Thrushes giving
Operatic display
Bug hotels
Beehives
Wasps peeling furniture
Flowers in crops
Balance predator and produce
Blessing garden
Good!
Cattle lowing
cattle moving
cattle breaking out
messing us about
Hallelujah
They shout
Life’s texture enriched,
Manifold experience
Never a dull day
Thank God we say
Curling pond
Waterfall
Paths in Shelterbelt
Mike’s wood
The gravel pit
Sheep
Pigs
Alpacas
Goats
Hens
Geese
Dogs
Cats
And Molly, the horse
All sing God’s praise
Mila and Amber
Dogs of
Refreshment and
Grounding
The chickens
Spiritual guides
Many blessed through them
The chapel
Our heart
Our engine room
Our steadying
Hearth
Our souls touched
Our hearts moved
Our spirits lifted
God wooed
So,
Thank you, God, for the vision
The calling to Blackruthven
Thank you for the Bield folk
And all whose lives we’ve poked
We pray that all be blessed
Who come.
Blessed by Your
Love
Embrace
Nurture
Emboldening
Thank you, Lord, for everything and all.
Amen