It was Mary Oliver the poet who wrote ‘attention is the beginning of devotion’ in her collection of essays, Upstream: Selected Essays.[1] One of the things she does is say hello to individual trees, flowers, butterflies, because she knows them as friends. She has walked by them many times. She names them as well. This seems to echo St. Francis when he says hello to Sister Moon and Brother Sun. I think this recognizing and naming is the beginning of devotion, being attentive to the creation all around us.
Many of us are devoted to Scargill, something here has caught and retained our attention. Perhaps, we have had an epiphany, a moment of meeting with God, an experience of wonder. Wonder is a form of attention, sometimes something captures our attention, occasionally we train ourselves to wonder at even the most ordinary of things.
Next time you visit us say hello to your favourite bench, or view or tree. Find out its name or give it a name with the same sense of wonder creatures must have been named in the Garden of Eden. The estate bears repeated considerations of its beauty.
Devotion is an interesting word, and although it is used less and less in literature it is an important word. We should reclaim it. It implies loyalty, selflessness and an act of consistent attention toward something. Originally it had the strength of making a vow or promise. I have seen devotion in the community, devotion amongst working friends, devotion from guests. One thing I have noticed is that this devotion is freely given, not begrudged. It doesn’t seem to come out of a sense of duty, but because somehow the place, the people have caught the attention of our heart.
[1] Mary Oliver, Upstream: Selected Essays (New York: Penguin, 2016), loc. 166 of 1669, Kindle.
Dear Friends
We hope you are enjoying our latest Momentum magazine/Programme, covering events September 2024 to February 2025, and are making plans for when you can next connect with us either online or in-house. Here is the Momentum/Programme as a PDF.
Forthcoming online events with spaces available for you to join us:
Friday 21st to Sunday 23rd June The Bass Note led by Adrian and Bridget Plass Wednesday 10th July Online Quiet Day (Free and Donation tickets available) Wednesday livestream services (4:30-5pm) – (on our Youtube channel) same link to catch up later
As a community, we recently enjoyed welcoming our guests of all ages for our Paddington themed May Half Term, and are looking forward to welcoming guests for all sorts of events and groups over the Summer.
Joining the Scargill adventure as a residential community member As Summer approaches, the community will be welcoming some short-term summer workers amongst us. There are also a number of community member departures scheduled before September, as folk come to the end of their time with us and move on to new things.
We would welcome applications from folk for a shorter or longer stay, and there are gaps opening up across a number of teams – is God calling you or someone you know to be a part of the Scargill Community?
Please pray for God to send us the right people to join us for the Autumn, and join the adventure of living and serving on this Christian community. You may know someone who you think would both benefit from and contribute to the residential Scargill community. Do ask them to be in touch with us to enquire about joining – see here.
Phil and Di sabbatical Phil and Di are now two-thirds of the way through their sabbatical. Di shares here some reflections on their recent trip to Italy and the life of St Francis of Assisi. Enjoy!
Diane writes:
During this mid-section of our sabbatical, we travelled to Italy with Jo P to visit two linked religious communities – Bose, the main house in North Italy, where we been many times and one of their three small houses which happens to be in Assisi!
Our journey started by car then plane, coach, bus, train and taxi!! It felt very much like being on a pilgrimage – as indeed it turned out to be with a few days later and another day’s travelling we arrived in Assisi. Along the way we were also reading Chasing Francis – a pilgrim’s tale by Ian Morgan Cron. It is in the genre of WISDOM literature with a delicate balance of fiction and nonfiction, pilgrimage and teaching, focusing on the life of St Francis.
The story opens with these words:
“In the middle of the journey of our life I came to my senses in a dark forest, For I had lost the straight path. Oh, how hard it is to tell what a dense, wild and tangled wood this was the thought of which renews my fears!” From – Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy – Canto1 lines 1-6
Now I have never read The Divine Comedy and probably never will but these words spoke to me. I felt very much like the main character, floundering in the unknown, the where, when and why-for not yet clear, a new way of being community – will we be able to stay the course?
Thankfully we were in a beautiful place, full of peace and quiet and as I began reading there was this quote from Anne Frank.
‘The best remedy for those who are afraid or unhappy is to go outside some where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens and nature and God, because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty in nature’
Not only were we encircled by the beauty of the surrounding countryside, there was also the incredible artwork in Bose, the frescos of Assisi filling many of the churches we visited as well as the beauty in the simplicity of the few unadorned churches, water fountains and fields. I also discovered that every confessional has a cross impregnated in the screen separating the priest and the individual. You’ll be pleased to know I checked in every church we visited! And I became truly excited about the idea that Christ is there in the centre of their conversation reminding me that he is also ever present with me and all the conversations and interaction I have each day.
Ian Morgan Cron also reminds us Francis loved God, the world and all that is in it, passionately. He was convinced that how we live together is what attracts people to faith. His way of evangelising people was through the example of his own life….” It is no good walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching” in other words we need to ‘walk the talk!’ That Christ is present when we offer radical generosity and open hospitality – eating together, praying together, embracing all – doing life together which has always excited and energised me and I know it will continue to. It seems to be in my DNA! Chasing Francis concludes with these lines from Dante’s Divine Comedy:
By that hidden way My guide and I did enter to return To the fair world: and heedless of repose We climbed, he first, I following his steps, Till on our view the beautiful lights of heaven Dawn’d through a circular opening in the cave: Thus issuing we again beheld the stars.
Our journeys are full of new chapters and mine now continues with the hope of Dante’s stars and the assurance that where ever we go our home will be a house of peace, a house of welcome, a house of laughter and a house of prayer, for all.
