Author: Peter Sidebotham
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Counting the stars
Last night I woke and stood on the deck outside the chapel. The night was still. No sounds save the gentle Ngatiawa tumbling its way down to the Sea, and a lonely owl haunting the quiet valley. The night was clear. Dark forests towered above me, silhouetted against the star-lit sky. The half-moon,…
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An unexpected journey
Here, surrounded by vistas of Middle Earth, I am feeling a certain affinity to Bilbo Baggins. “This hobbit was a very well-to-do hobbit, and his name was Baggins. The Bagginses had lived in the neighbourhood of The Hill for time out of mind, and people considered them very respectable, not only because most of them…
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What do I want of my life?
This morning I read the following quote from Esther de Waal: ‘I looked for a while at the daffodils, and asked myself the question: “What do you want of your life?” and I realised, with a start of recognition and terror, “Exactly what I have” – but to be commensurate, to handle it all better.’…
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Do not be hasty
Do not be hasty, that is my motto. Life at Ngatiawa River Monastery is a curious blend of stillness and action, silence and community, order and chaos, quiet contemplation and impulsive spontaneity. Since arriving here a week ago, I have spent time quietly reading and reflecting, joined in simple contemplative services in the chapel,…
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An inexpressible mystery
Can I start to put into words experience that cannot be named? To express the inexpressible mystery? To describe the beauty of this place or capture the gift so freely given? Outside my door the birds sing forth their symphony of praise; never ending but always new. Cockerels crow heralding this new, bright day. The…
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Washing the dishes at Ngatiawa
One of my fondest memories of childhood was of family holidays joining my aunt and uncle at a wonderful lodge by Llyn Cregennen in North Wales. We would bundle in, together with our cousins and what seemed like dozens of random friends, relatives and strangers for a week or two of fun and games, laughter…
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A sunrise prayer
Do you, then, Lord, rise up to meet me as I run to meet you? Since I have not the strength to scale your summits unless you stretch out your right hand to me whom your hands have made, rise to meet me… and lead me in the way of eternity, that is, in Christ, who…
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Stillness in Auckland
I have been in New Zealand less than 3 days, enjoying the rest and refreshment of the start of my sabbatical. So far I’ve walked along the waterfront at Mangere Bridge and Herne Bay, wandered through the lush rainforests of the Waitakere Ranges, buried my feet in the warm black sands of Karekare, and splashed…
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The Bunbury Train
I’m sitting on the slow train from Bunbury to Perth, contemplating the strange beauty around me. There is only a slow train, twice a day, trundling through the coastal bushlands of Western Australia. They stretch away to the East, over gently rolling hills, through to the incomprehensible vastness of the Australian interior. Miles and miles…