Heaven in Devon

Please excuse the cyber-silence through the last week of March, but your blogger has been in a place where the wonders of Wi-fi, let alone a mobile phone signal, still don't quite reach. I've not actually been taken up to that place where, like the apostle Paul who claimed some experience of it, we all hope to go one day, but spending four days in England's second-largest county during a finally enwarmed Spring has certainly given a taste of it.

Lee Abbey-click on the post title above for more information- was my location of choice for a four day retreat coupled with a visit to an old friend and my uncle and aunt, who have the good fortune to live around this impressive part of the British coastline. Although I'd visited my family in the area several times, it was my first visit to this famous Christian holiday and conference centre, which was founded in the difficult times following the Second World War. Many Christians then were seeking a spiritual renewal for England while the politicians sought to attend to "practical" needs with the founding of the welfare state. Lee Abbey was one result of the Christian vision, and in the intervening sixty years it has thrived to become part of a widely-respected movement with worldwide support.

I'd been meaning to come down to this beautiful location for many years, and I'd known of Lee Abbey for around two decades though only recently discovered just how much more the Lee Abbey movement has to offer. The first week of Spring "proper" though provided an ideal prompting for this young man to 'go West' for my own Lent reflections and something of the wilderness experience, because it immediately followed the first anniversary of my dear Mum's death on 26th March. With some irony, in the UK this year that was Mothering Sunday, which is our equivalent of Mothers' Day and often called that, though its origins long pre-date the May celebration of these precious ladies in several other countries.

I also happened to be asked to preach at my church on the evening of Mothering Sunday, which went well although I had wondered how I might be able to handle such a co-incidence of timing. I should not have worried; God carried me and my brother through the happy-sad memories of that day and the past week has been memorable too as I seek to move on after this loss.

In Devon, as in Heaven, my past, present and possible future were joined as God made his presence felt a little closer to me and the other dear souls gathered in "Tarka the Otter" country. It was good to meet some new folk and have some enriching, intelligent conversations - food for the soul- as well as a delicious selection of great "grub". With the South West Coastal path skirting the Lee estate, though, fortunately I've found I've lost weight rather than put it on in the past week!

High Lee, How Lee, Holy
The ever-inspiring Brian Draper was the main speaker at the group I attended; follow the link on the left of this page to Brian's always blogspot. Though I'm not sure whether he'll have anything to say about Devon, what he does say he always does skilfully and intelligently with far fewer words than me. Although I'd heard or read some of what Brian said at Lee Abbey in other contexts, I nevertheless found so much of it helpful and challenging stuff. It was an excellent encouragement for all those of us seeking to show that the Christian faith is still as relevant in the very different cultural landscape of 21st century Britain as it was in the first century Holy Land. Another lovely coincidence, incidentally, was that was where I was on this very week sixteen years ago.

Besides the questions applicable to our society in general, the loss of a parent, or indeed any close loved one, naturally causes one to look afresh at the often complex, all too brief experience we call life: how have I used it so far, and how am I going to use the rest of it? What can I do, what can't I do? How do I fit into the grander scheme of things and the way the world is going?

At least, these are some of the many questions I have asked myself during the last twelve months, though it has to be said that they are the sort of probing enquiries that thinking, feeling individuals- whether people of faith or not- should be asking regularly if life is to be lived to the full. Sadly in the Western World today, in my view at least, all too many individuals cheat themselves and others by settling for something less and paddling only in the shallows of life, rather than exploring its wonderful depths.

The Exmoor National Park, in which Lee Abbey is situated, is a breath-taking place where appreciation of the beauty of nature should come naturally to anyone circulating the blood of humanity. Steep granite cliffs slope down to secluded, tiny bays on the Bristol Channel, that stretch of sea where the moodiness of the Atlantic Ocean becomes moderated by the warm winds of the Gulf Stream as it kisses British shores for the first time. I can well understand the appeal of the place.
If you're looking for refreshment and renewal, come on retreat to divine Devon. Choose the wonderful Christian community of Lee Abbey for your stay, and you too can experience a taste of heaven, and you won't find it in a Clotted Cream tub.