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
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Tuesday, 6 September 2011
Hope from disaster
My dear Friends
We are coming up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11.It was a terrible tragedy at the time.I spent the afternoon with my landlady and her daughter, a Vicar's wife, who had come up from Kent. She observed that 'there's always Redemption.' God can always bring good out of evil, although it can take a while.
I was mulling this over when I went to the large Catholic church in Cambridge the Sunday after 9/11 happened. I went with a young american friend of mine, who was to become my goddaughter. The church was packed. Fr Tony Rodgers, the Parish priest, gave a fine sermon. He said that the day after the tragedy people saw something going on around the area that it happened but they couldn't quite make out what it was. So they drew nearer and discovered that a group of people were dancing...for the joy of living.
I went to church all that week. I seemed to feel the arms of Mary, our universal Mother, around me. It occcured to me that she was holding the whole world in an embrace, and i remembered that one of her designations is Our lady of Sorrows, to be in solidarity with us when we are suffering, just like her son.
Let us hope and pray that the anniversary at the weekend passes without violence or bloodshed, just in quiet remembrance.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
We are coming up to the tenth anniversary of 9/11.It was a terrible tragedy at the time.I spent the afternoon with my landlady and her daughter, a Vicar's wife, who had come up from Kent. She observed that 'there's always Redemption.' God can always bring good out of evil, although it can take a while.
I was mulling this over when I went to the large Catholic church in Cambridge the Sunday after 9/11 happened. I went with a young american friend of mine, who was to become my goddaughter. The church was packed. Fr Tony Rodgers, the Parish priest, gave a fine sermon. He said that the day after the tragedy people saw something going on around the area that it happened but they couldn't quite make out what it was. So they drew nearer and discovered that a group of people were dancing...for the joy of living.
I went to church all that week. I seemed to feel the arms of Mary, our universal Mother, around me. It occcured to me that she was holding the whole world in an embrace, and i remembered that one of her designations is Our lady of Sorrows, to be in solidarity with us when we are suffering, just like her son.
Let us hope and pray that the anniversary at the weekend passes without violence or bloodshed, just in quiet remembrance.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Canterbury
My dear Friends
After the peace and tranquillity of the sea, I moved on to busy Canterbury. My first visit. You could still hear the gulls crying overhead. Underneath the roundabout leading to the town there was a wonderful mural, depicting Canterbury's history, and explaining that in times gone by people from all over Europe and England would come to Canterbury to trade.
The High Street was incredibly packed, so I took the advice of someone I had spoken to in Ramsgate and stuck to the side streets. But not before I had seen the Cathedral, magnificent although overwhelming in its size. I was lucky to find three Anglican guides who explained to much of the history. When I said I was full of hope for Anglican-Catholic reconciliation she took me down to the spot where Thomas a Beckett was murdered in the Cathedral, around 1100, and showed me where Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Runcie had knelt together and prayed. So we did too and it was a moment of great grace.
Then I went down to the crypt, a place of silence and prayer and where you were invited to pray for Peace. Back up at the top, I went to the choir, where the original monks had said their devotions and which faced East-I thought the whole looked like a Sephardic Synagogue or even a Mosque-the guide was intrigued.We stopped on the hour for prayer, just like they do in Ely, which was recited by the Rector, but the Cathedral was quite empty.
Next day I found the Catholic church in Burgate and sat in the little garden outside. The outside facade was lovely and lots of people passing took photos. although the building only dates from around 1847. But it's lovely inside too, with a kind of monastic feel, and one or two of Thomas's relics.( I confess,coming from a Jewish background I have never cared for relics.) I stayed for Mass, conducted by the elderly, but rather radiant Fr George from Dublin.
Walking round the streets I felt happy and found the people 'soft' and approachable. I ended up taking a trip on the river, which was fascinating. We floated past all the old monastic buildings, including the Dominican Priory and also the 'hospital' which was where the pilgrims had a free night's board, albeit uncomfortable. The river Stour was very different to the river Cam.
In a shop next to the Catholic church I was given a present of a pilgim badge, and I felt as proud as if I had been to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, or Jerusalem or elsewhere. I know I will go again.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
After the peace and tranquillity of the sea, I moved on to busy Canterbury. My first visit. You could still hear the gulls crying overhead. Underneath the roundabout leading to the town there was a wonderful mural, depicting Canterbury's history, and explaining that in times gone by people from all over Europe and England would come to Canterbury to trade.
The High Street was incredibly packed, so I took the advice of someone I had spoken to in Ramsgate and stuck to the side streets. But not before I had seen the Cathedral, magnificent although overwhelming in its size. I was lucky to find three Anglican guides who explained to much of the history. When I said I was full of hope for Anglican-Catholic reconciliation she took me down to the spot where Thomas a Beckett was murdered in the Cathedral, around 1100, and showed me where Pope John Paul II and Archbishop Runcie had knelt together and prayed. So we did too and it was a moment of great grace.
Then I went down to the crypt, a place of silence and prayer and where you were invited to pray for Peace. Back up at the top, I went to the choir, where the original monks had said their devotions and which faced East-I thought the whole looked like a Sephardic Synagogue or even a Mosque-the guide was intrigued.We stopped on the hour for prayer, just like they do in Ely, which was recited by the Rector, but the Cathedral was quite empty.
Next day I found the Catholic church in Burgate and sat in the little garden outside. The outside facade was lovely and lots of people passing took photos. although the building only dates from around 1847. But it's lovely inside too, with a kind of monastic feel, and one or two of Thomas's relics.( I confess,coming from a Jewish background I have never cared for relics.) I stayed for Mass, conducted by the elderly, but rather radiant Fr George from Dublin.
Walking round the streets I felt happy and found the people 'soft' and approachable. I ended up taking a trip on the river, which was fascinating. We floated past all the old monastic buildings, including the Dominican Priory and also the 'hospital' which was where the pilgrims had a free night's board, albeit uncomfortable. The river Stour was very different to the river Cam.
In a shop next to the Catholic church I was given a present of a pilgim badge, and I felt as proud as if I had been to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, or Jerusalem or elsewhere. I know I will go again.
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Wednesday, 17 August 2011
A pilgrimage continued
My dear Friends
On Sunday morning I went to the local Catholic church. I was greeted warmly as I went in. I sat beside a lady who told me that she had been to Israel and would like to go to the Reform Synagogue in Ramsgate. (I meant to tell you that I had attended a service there on the previous evening and it was very moving.)
The Mass was taken by a visiting French priest, now in Algeria. Unlike my church back in Cambridge, there was an organ and a choir and even a pulpit! The first reading was taken from the book of Kings, about Elijah and the presence of God he hears, not in the fire or the thunder but in the 'still small voice.' It is a theme which has run throughout my life, and the voice I heard in a graveyard near the sea which brought me into the Church in 1988/1989.
After the Mass I jumped on a bus, to discover it was going back to Broadstairs. The folk festival was in full swing there and we bowled along and I had a lovely chat to a local man.Once there I spent hours wandering the town, into second hand bookshops, and olde worlde tea shops. I met a delightful English lady there, who is a Buddhist and who is going to dicover why there is no Hebrew writing on the Montefiore Synagogue in the woods in Ramsgate.
Everyone was eating fish and chips.I sat near the sea and from my post could see the Morris men dancing on the pier. Then the Morris ladies danced right beside me. I chatted to a nice Anglican lady from Ramsgate. Sat in a cafe in one of the oldest buildings in Broadstairs and determined to go back. Finally I went right through the town and through the York Gate, which must have been the entrance to the town at one time.1774 was written on it. As I passed through I got the whiff of smugglers and later dicovered that The 39 Steps was written there.
To be continued
Shalom from
Sister Gila
On Sunday morning I went to the local Catholic church. I was greeted warmly as I went in. I sat beside a lady who told me that she had been to Israel and would like to go to the Reform Synagogue in Ramsgate. (I meant to tell you that I had attended a service there on the previous evening and it was very moving.)
The Mass was taken by a visiting French priest, now in Algeria. Unlike my church back in Cambridge, there was an organ and a choir and even a pulpit! The first reading was taken from the book of Kings, about Elijah and the presence of God he hears, not in the fire or the thunder but in the 'still small voice.' It is a theme which has run throughout my life, and the voice I heard in a graveyard near the sea which brought me into the Church in 1988/1989.
After the Mass I jumped on a bus, to discover it was going back to Broadstairs. The folk festival was in full swing there and we bowled along and I had a lovely chat to a local man.Once there I spent hours wandering the town, into second hand bookshops, and olde worlde tea shops. I met a delightful English lady there, who is a Buddhist and who is going to dicover why there is no Hebrew writing on the Montefiore Synagogue in the woods in Ramsgate.
Everyone was eating fish and chips.I sat near the sea and from my post could see the Morris men dancing on the pier. Then the Morris ladies danced right beside me. I chatted to a nice Anglican lady from Ramsgate. Sat in a cafe in one of the oldest buildings in Broadstairs and determined to go back. Finally I went right through the town and through the York Gate, which must have been the entrance to the town at one time.1774 was written on it. As I passed through I got the whiff of smugglers and later dicovered that The 39 Steps was written there.
To be continued
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Tuesday, 16 August 2011
A pilgrimage
My dear Friends
I haven't journeyed very far away, but I had an interesting and marvellous time.I started off in a place I last went to when i was eight-Ramsgate, on the coast of Kent. I had visited the Synagogue there as a child and it made a deep impression on me. It was founded by Sir Moses Montefiore,from a Sephardic Jewish family from Italy. He built a house on the cliffs in Ramsgate and Queen Victoria was one of his guests.
My guesthouse was one minute from the sea and the weather was glorious. I tagged along with a mother and her daughter and followed them down the steep steps to the sea, where I paddled to my heart's content. After a couple of hours, in which the little girl ran in and out of the sea in great delight, I moved on and found a congenial restaurant, where they said I could bring my guitar next time if I liked.
The next day I discovered that there was a folk week in Broadstairs, the next town. I started on the beach again, talking to a nice English family at the cafe, and then walking to Broadstairs with the sea on my right. Again i chatted to a nice English couple, who knew Cambridge. From the town bandstand a crowd was entertained with the children and we all ate ice creams and bags of lovely chips. I was having a lot of fun and was quite out of my normal routine.
I wandered through the town, passing merrymakers along the way, avoiding crowded pubs but finding a nice little cafe at the edge of the town.I talked to an Austrian lady from Vienna and her son who were doing the coastal tour. I took a taxi, quite inexpensive, back to Ramsgate, and rested for a while.
(To be continued)
Shalom from
Sister Gila
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Holiday
My dear Friends
I am going away tomorrow to a place near the English Channel, then an historic location and I will bring you up-to-date when I return on the 13th.
Be well
Sister Gila
I am going away tomorrow to a place near the English Channel, then an historic location and I will bring you up-to-date when I return on the 13th.
Be well
Sister Gila
Thursday, 28 July 2011
Hope
My dear Friends
The day after 9/11 some people were doing something on the site of the tragedy. Other people, at a distance, wondered what it was and drew nearer to find out. Then they saw that a group of people were dancing, for the JOY of living.
And so we must hope that something good comes out of the terrible events last week in Norway. We have learned, and so said one of the Norwegian government ministers, that evil can happen anywhere, and is not just a result of Islamic terrorism. We learn from the Prologue of the Gospel of John that the Light was coming into the world, and that the darkness could not overpower the Light. In the original Greek, the darkness cannot even comprehend the Light.
There was a Norwegian man who was living in a cabin on the shores of the lake where the terrible incident happened. Having received a phone call from a friend, he took his boat out on several successive occasions and mangaed to rescue one hundred teenagers.
As the bells tolled from Oslo Cathedral and the people left hundreds of bunches of flowers, we can reflect that the reaction of the Norwegian people was one of a people wanting to affirm their democracy and their tolerance. That gives us hope for a better world.
In Peace
Sister Gila
The day after 9/11 some people were doing something on the site of the tragedy. Other people, at a distance, wondered what it was and drew nearer to find out. Then they saw that a group of people were dancing, for the JOY of living.
And so we must hope that something good comes out of the terrible events last week in Norway. We have learned, and so said one of the Norwegian government ministers, that evil can happen anywhere, and is not just a result of Islamic terrorism. We learn from the Prologue of the Gospel of John that the Light was coming into the world, and that the darkness could not overpower the Light. In the original Greek, the darkness cannot even comprehend the Light.
There was a Norwegian man who was living in a cabin on the shores of the lake where the terrible incident happened. Having received a phone call from a friend, he took his boat out on several successive occasions and mangaed to rescue one hundred teenagers.
As the bells tolled from Oslo Cathedral and the people left hundreds of bunches of flowers, we can reflect that the reaction of the Norwegian people was one of a people wanting to affirm their democracy and their tolerance. That gives us hope for a better world.
In Peace
Sister Gila
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