Back after several years in the delightful setting of Launde Abbey for a creative Advent Retreat, entitled ’Some Small Heaven: Seeking Light in Winter’, beautifully led by Ian Adams, Chaplain of Ridley Hall
Recalling that my last retreat taken at Launde was led by Guy Consolmagno, now Director of the Vatican Observatory, I gathered ideas from the two retreats to compose the following
Glorious November Day
Glorious November day,
with skeletal trees
revelling
in their abilities
to flaunt their seasonal garments
of splashy light;
and simultaneously
cast vast shadows
way, way beyond
the exquisite carpets
of their fallen leaves.
So glorious!
And yet this silent landscape
promises far, far more.
In mere hours
the horizon will expand
from kilometres to light years.
as a clear dark sky
reveals the deeper vastness
of Orion and his companions,
inviting us to contemplate
the wider, wilder dimensions
of God’s astounding universe.