Last week, I spent four days of private retreat with the Northumbria Community. Before I arrived I did not really know what to expect but it turned out to be the perfect place for me at that time. It felt like being on a pilgrimage that started when I visited St. Cuthbert's tomb at Durham Cathedral on my way up.

The rhythm of prayer in that monastic community gave me enough order and structure for my days. Their prayer book with all the stories and liturgies is a treasure. I had a spiritual director who listened to my story and gave me things to do and a book to read. The countryside of Northumbria is beautiful and very, very quiet. The only thing you hear most of the day is all sorts of bird noises. And I realized again that places (like Cuthbert's Cave nearby) do have a spiritual impact. Amazing - even though there was a lot of silence and solitude I have not been bored for one second.

On my way to Glasgow Airport I passed through Melrose where Cuthbert had entered monastic life and by a place in the Southern Uplands where God had altered the course of my life significantly many years ago. Dust had settled, rubbish had been removed, the vision renewed. Not all difficulties have vanished but I feel fit enough to wrestle with them.

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