Cell and cloister

As we walked round our cloister (other people call it Greenhead Park), the walking buddies reflected on some of the seven sacred spaces. It is currently being redeveloped - hence the keep out sign.

In our own homes, we acknowledge, different spaces fill different functions. The cell is really important in the kind of lives we lead. To have our own personal individual space is a priority. We decorate it as we like. We may have more than one area that fills this function: bedroom and study can be different sorts of cells. These are definitely luxuries for many people in our culture. Early monastics slept in communal spaces, but few of us share with large groups on a long term basis now, unlike those living in poverty in poor families world-wide. New monasticism in our own homes is one thing, but how to keep it fair and just is quite another.

So we kept walking. Our daily route has become our cloister. Others join in sometimes and we meet and greet as well as walk and talk. Too many things at once can leave you breathless. We pass the diggers in the park and the squirrels cross our paths too. Our cloister is public space but we only greet people we know and that isn't very many. Once again we see the private side of life in Britain rather than the wider communal understanding that the early monastics had. Even so, it has made us think about our own spaces and how we use them, our hopes and dreams and what we would like to change.

God you call us through the wood;

through the wood you speak to us.

May we, your wood-wise ones,

touch wood with you,

hang onto your promises

and help shape the dreams of community

that only cross-wise commitment brings.