Gila at Arundel hotel

Gila at Arundel hotel
Visit with Mercedes

Thursday 28 October 2010

Land of mists

My dear Friends

'Wherever you go, the mother is calling her child.' So goes a song about Wales. My trip to Swansea last weekend was a bit of a homecoming for me as it was in Wales in a monastery in 1987 that I first came to Christ.

I hadn't realised that Swansea would be so beautiful, all that sea and rolling hills. My friend and I spent several hours walking along the beaches, even in the rain! For Wales is notorious for wet weather.
Swansea was the home of Dylan Thomas and we visited the Dylan Thomas Centre, with an interesting exhibition about his life. Afterwards my friend gave me a book of his poetry which I look forward to reading.

It was lovely to see all those Welsh faces and to see the signs in Welsh and occasionally to hear Welsh spoken;my friend spoke it at school until the age of nine. In another life I would love to learn it.

We wandered into quite a few pubs and also visited an art gallery and I have come with many happy memories.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

Thursday 21 October 2010

The great debate

My dear Friends

Cambridge is a very interesting place. Apart from all the colleges, it houses the Cambridge Union, which has one of the great debating chambers in the world. All kinds of famous people go there . This week the debate is 'Is Israel a rogue house?'which promises to be controversial.I have just become a life member and so will enjoy many debates in the future.

There is also a lovely coffee shop and bar, where I have enjoyed many an afternoon.Upstairs is a beautiful library, which overlooks St John's College, and which has a large stock of paperbacks.

The Union is situated next to the Round Church, one of Cambridge's famous landmarks, so easy to get to in the town.I consider myself very lucky to live here.

Tomorrow I am going on a little holiday to Swansea to see an old friend. We hope to go walking on the Gower peninsula and I will keep you posted.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

Thursday 14 October 2010

Talk on Sunday

My dear Friends

The talk on Sunday was a great success. Eight people came, all from different backgrounds, several Catholics and two people from the Reform Jewish community. Jonathan spoke on The Beginning of Jewish Christian Relations and it was very interesting. He spoke about the different Jewish factions in Galilee and Jerusalem in the first century AD and how this background sheds light on the New Testament .

He mentioned how the Pharisees were the 'nouveau riche' of the time and how the Temple had become corrupt.He mentioned the story of how Jesus overturned the tables of the moneylenders in the Temple.

There were various interesting questions afterwards and refreshments were served.It was a nice venue and thank you to Darwin College for hosting us.

Shalom from
Sister Gila

Thursday 7 October 2010

Talk on Sunday

My dear Friends

It is always interesting to go back in history and see where things began. This coming Sunday Jonathan Gorsky will give a talk on 'The beginning of Jewish Christian relations.' Jonathan gave our very successful talk last year on 'Jewish Christian relations post the second world war.' He is a lecturer in Heythrop College in the University of London and helped devise a B.A. programme on the Abrahamic faiths. I believe he will speak about the first century, after the foundation of Christianity.

The lecture will take place in Newnham Terrace in Darwin College, which is a lovely venue.Let's hope the people flock along!

Shalom from
Sister Gila