Mazel tov

My dear Friends

I wish you a peaceful and happy New year, with lots of good things. There are two events to look forward to in the history of The Little Sisters of Joy early this year. The first, on february 5th,is a gathering to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the founding of the project. As you may remember, the founding took place in December 1998, in Provence, where i was staying with The Sisters of Pomeyrol, a small and lively Protestant group of nuns.

There, in the silence of the beautiful countryside, I felt God calling me to start a new religious community. Some years later I started an Association of Friends, and in 2004 it evolved into its present state as an international Foundation for Peace and Reconciliation. Now there are over 600 Friends in 22 countries, of all religions and cultures.

So, we will gather, about thirteen of us in the Regent hotel in Cambridge, a samll family hotel overlooking Parkers Piece, at one end of which is the large and imposing Catholic Church. Let us hope that we will be able to do this for many more years to come.

Then, on shrove tuesday 21st February, I will give another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation, singing my usual mix of Jewish music, songs of the 60's and traditional folk. Three years ago I gave a concert at this lovley venue, the Lee Hall in Wolfson College. During the day you c an see an english garden on one side of the hall and a Chinese one on the other. I am publicising the concert to a wide range of people and let us hope for a good turnout. It is sso special when the audience sings with me and our common prayer, I am sure, has a very healing effect.

More later

Shalom

Sister Gila

The light in the world

My dear Friends
Now that I have got over the excitement of my sixtieth birthday I can concentrate on the real plot, which is the Light coming into the world. In pagan times they lit bonfires and celebrated the light to alleviate the darkness.

In 160 B.C. in Palestine the Greeks, under the emperor Antiochus, overran the Jewish Temple and desecrated it. A small band of zealots, called the Maccabees, under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus, fought against the Greeks and won and went to rededicate the Temple. They found that the light above the Ark, supposed to burn permanently, had been extinguished. They searched around for some oil and found only enough to burn for a short while. But God made a miracle and the oil lasted for eight days, long enough for them to get replenishments. Hence the Feast of Dedication, Chanukah, when the Jewish people light candles for eight days, to commemorate the power of God and the miracle of the light.

140 or so years later, Jesus was born. In John's Gospel we don't have the narrative of His birth, as in the Gospel of Luke, but we have an extended mystical description of the Light coming into the world. This is the Christ, the Logos, who was with the Father before time and space began. Not only was everything made through Him, but He came into the world so that He could be the Light and life of men and women. It is a Light that the darkness cannot extinguish or overpower, and, more, a Light that the darkness cannot (according to the original Greek) even comprehend.

I met a young German woman at university who was an atheist. We became friends and she told me that she had an African boyfriend. She once travelled with him to Africa. They arrived at night and she was struck by the darkness of the Veldt, the huge rural expanse of the African landscape. They were taken into a room, where there was nothing but a matress on the floor.

Then someone lit a candle. She told me that that was the closest to a religious experience she had ever had.

Every blessing for Christmas, may the Light shine on you.
Health and happiness in the new year.
Shalom from
Sister Gila

Till 120 Years

My dear Friends
I am halfway there! In the Jewish tradition and also the Arabic tradition when you have a birthday you say to the person 'Till 120 years!'. This presumably refers to the figures in the Bible who were purported to have lived that long, Moses being the most famous amongst them.

My own mother, God rest her beloved soul, lasted, and in good shape too, to 97 years. My friend Eva's mother mde it till 102 and we know that in the Caucasian mountains people live until 160. I have always thougth it was due to a combination of vodka and honey, both of which I take by the way.

Getting back to my 60th birhtday, which I celebrated yesterday on the 3rd Sunday of Advent, so it was even more special, in the Korean tradition 60 is the most important age of all. I am not sure why. I think of life as a play, with successive ages or decades as different acts in the play. Now surely 60 is coming up to the curtain on the final act, whether the act lasts one year or thirty seven as in my mother's case. I have a feeling that these years may be the most fulfilling of my life. and so far I have had an interesting and adventurous life.

I have only one unfulfilled ambition, apart from seeing my friends again in Amsterdam. That is to go the Metropolitan Opera in New York. I listen to it on the radio, and enjoy the intervals, when a very friendly lady gives credit to everyone from the Producer down to the cleaner. I love the Americans and their country and the fact that they are so egalitarian. So I have collared a close Polish friend of mine and virtually extraced a promise from her that we will 'do' New York together sometime in the coming years.

I celebrated my birthday by starting on Saturday with a group of diverse friends, food and drink. Yesterday I went to Mass, where grace was poured out and I felt overwhelmed by the love of it all. In the afternoon more friends came round, and also in the evening.

I have a friend who celebrated her 60th birthday for the whole year. So watch this space!

Love and shalom
Sister Gila

The busker

My dear Friends
I haven't been too well lately, but I am hoping to do another Concert for Peace and Reconciliation in about three weeks' time. I wanted to tell you about someone who has been a great inspiration to me down the years. i won't tell you her name but just that she is about my age, with fine silvery hair and a black coat, which she wears on her daily busking trips in Cambridge.

Her voice is low, because of her smoking but still fine and clear and she has an enviable range of songs, with quite a lot of Bob Dylan in there. Go away from my window otherwise known as it ain't me babe, is one of her stock in trade. She sings it with a poignancy which brings tears to your eyes.

Her strumming style is much to be envied. I usually use the same technique but hers is varied according to the song and mood of the piece. Blowing in the wind which I do too is in there, and it rings out over the streets of Cambridge and the alleyways where she sings, tucked in between coffee shops.

She varies her pitch and i don't know if this attracts more or less custom but she usually earns enough for coffee and sandwiches and sometimes more. And there is always the satisfaction of knowing that people are listening to the music, even if they don't put money in the hat.

She is a real feature in these parts, going out daily to do her thing. She has been an inspiration and a friend in times of need, sharing a fag and sharing her song-long may it go on.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

Remebrance Sunday

My dear Friends

Remembrance Sunday is a very important day. The chance to remember and pray for the ones we have lost,but not quite forever. The two minute silence observed all over the world is a sign of solidarity and hope. We have lost so many over the centuries to war and conflict, but hopefully now is a time of renewal and strength. More later.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

The Feast of Tabernacles.

My dear Friends
Recently the Jewish community celebrated the Feast of Tabernacles. It was a very joyful occasion and I met many of my old Friends who seemed pleased to see me. At the end of the service the story of Creation was read out and different people were called up to receive a blessing. We also danced with Torah scrolls and the children came up also to receive a blessing.My friend Jane Liddell King who writes for the Jewish chronicle was there and together we prayed and sang.

Altogether an interesting time and one which recalls the dwelling of the children of Israel in booths in the wilderness.People erect booths and sit in them, having decorated them with fruits and flowers.

Shalom for now
Sister Gila

No more war

My dear Friends
Sorry for the delay in blogging, but its been a busy month. We are at the start of the Jewish Festivals. We have just finished the New year, and are in the Ten Days of Penitence, leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when the Jewish community fasts and prays for personal healing and the healing of the world.

The Sudan has just taken a samll step towards Peace and it is to be commended and encouraged. It wants to reduce its military personnel and take all the disabled and others out of the military and into other employment. This was featured as a news item in the middle of the night on BBC Radio Four's World Service. The Western interviewer asked if they wouldn't be reluctant to leave their military career, and who would fight in their place? The man from the Sudan said that they could always train up their young people, who would also feel that they had a job.

It struck me, sleepy and all that I was in the middle of the night, that the questions were arrogant and patronising.We in the West are behind military action in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya and surely we must find a way to make peace. The question of whether a war is just is a difficult and complex one, but we must pursue it and questions of can we justify war for the greater good in all circles, religious and secular.

The laying down of weapons for universal peace is prophesied in the Bible in the Book of Isaiah Chap 2, verses 2-4 and also at the beginning of the Book of Micah. I have another reflection which I will share with you another day, but in the meantime I continue to sing, humbly in the tradition of Bob Dylan, Woodie Guthrie and many others for Peace.

'Yes, an how many times will the cannonballs fly, before they're forever banned?
The answer, my Friend, is blowin in the wind, the answer is blowin in the wind.'

Shalom and Happy new Year
Sister Gila