And still ... and still ...
I believe in you.

I wait for you.

Retreat echoes 5

Into your hands Lord,
into your hands.
In your strength Lord,
in your strength.
By your love Lord,
by your love.
For your glory Lord,
for your glory.
All for you Lord,
all for you.

Retreat Echoes 4

It was like a rose opening
sweet to the sun
and it was gift.
It was gentleness, and fullness
of love lost and regained.
My gift to you.
All for you.


Gentle me with kindness,
love me into life,
for in you is all joy found.

Retreat Echoes 3

'It is the Lord who marches before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.' (Deuteronomy 31: 8)

Comfort me in the darkest place
where shame resides and doubt.
That you could love me really, still.
When all is said and done.

'Protect me O God, for in you I take refuge.
I say to the Lord "You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you".' (Psalm 16)

In you is safety, protection.
Life. Goodness. All finds its source in you.
Protect me Lord.
Lift up my life to praise you
for in you are found faithfulness and love.

Retreat Echoes 2

Give me the grace to love you, to be free from all that comes between us.
Give me the grace to desire as you desire, to be caught up in your love day by day.
So that all is light, in you.

'I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.' (Psalm 116)

' But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope : the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness' (Lamentations 3: 21-23)

Retreat Echoes 1

Let go of what destroys
and let the love in.
Yes.
Let in the love.

I am enveloped in kindness,
held in love.

You are here
and I feel such profound relief,
such warmth at the core of me.

In the middle of my praying, plotting, worrying, pining,
silence slips in with the breeze.
Sits down gently. Sighs.
I hardly notice her,
unannounced, shy.
But something tells the truth of it and my heart sings.

The silence is like silk.

And I love the flow
of your presence
running through my life.

Softly.

It's enough.
I am enough.
And so I let it go,
watching as your rivers burst forth with truth.

In you my heart trusts
and it hurts and heals,
opening out towards the path
before which I bow.

It's time.

In the midst of the turmoil
I sense the trace of something forming,
slowly, decidely, redeemed.

The glimmer of breezes
blowing transparent through my life,
bringing wholeness, daring trust.

Yes. Daring to trust the unfolding
of our great desires,
running thick with hope for what will be
in the coming times.

The beginning again.

Wrapped in your love,
like a cloak.
You warm me
from the inside out.

I follow the drift
of your presence,
amidst the rush of tussled tubes and trains.
I feel your tug
tender to the touch.

Mend me.

Cenacle is not a place for the timid.

The fire within
burns.
The gathering
costs.
The labouring
tires.

But deep in the hidden heart of the meeting
I find love and it will not let me go.

It is this unbidden passion that sends me forth to you.

The space inbetween the floods
is crying out for attention.

When, oh when!

When,
will you listen?

Uncurl your toes,
stretch out your longing,
step into the seeping newness
of your broken life.
It sings.

'By day the Lord will send
his loving kindness;
by night I will sing to him,
praise the God of my life.'

Psalm 42

May I welcome your kindness,

open out my thinking.

Receive from you,

by night,

by day.

And who knows what song will emerge?

It will be for you.

The touch of the grass beneath my feet grounds me in the midst of turmoil.
Take the time to feel it.
Allow the softness and the bristle to awaken my senses from their slumber.
Let the silence at the heart of it all
speak words of wisdom,
breathe thoughts of peace.

Colour .... drink it in

It feeds the soul ...

It is you whom I invoke, O God.
In the morning you hear me;
in the morning I offer you my prayer,
watching and waiting.

Psalm 5

You are my shelter, my shade, my guard, my help
You are my rock, my shield, my stronghold.
Be with me this day.

May I be aware of your presence
step by step.

'I will sing to the Lord all my life,
make music to my God while I live.'

Psalm 104

My joy comes from you,

circling down to the roots of my life.

'That I might know how to speak to the weary ... Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear.'

Isaiah 50:4

Morning after morning,

as day follows night,

you are with me.

This deep silence
at the heart of my life
has taken root.
While I wasn't looking!
And, it's staying.

Immensity is tapping ...

'In out of the way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.'

John O'Donohue Benedictus

Cenacle

Cenacle is the place of 'emergence'. Cenacle space, heartspace ... which holds and encourages the trickles of newness forming unseen and unnoticed in the centre of occupied lives.

'Somewhere, out at the edges, the night
Is turning and the waves of darkness
Begin to brighten the shore of dawn

The heavy dark falls back to earth
And the freed air goes wild with light,
The heart fills with fresh, bright breath
And thoughts stir to give birth to colour'

John O'Donohue Eternal Echoes