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Getting away from it all

11/6/2016

1 Comment

 
Picture
To what lengths would you go in order to have some quiet time with God? Yesterday we visited a monastery and a convent in the Meteora area near Kalambaka. The area is mountainous, and full of rocky outposts like this, with monasteries perched on top. Some now have a road or at least a path leading to them, but originally monks and supplies were winched up or down in a basket or net.
The guide book explained the goal of such isolation: "The true aim of the Orthodox life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit. The monk does nothing other than this. He lives in a constant effort to draw closer to God".  While most of us aren't called to the monastic life, I suspect that a little more dedicated time with God every day would do us all good. The efforts we need to make to achieve this are, by comparison, not so great after all!


1 Comment
Liz Percival
13/6/2016 09:41:32 am

Not sure I would have the head for heights to live there although I do like praying on mountain tops like the one we climbed in Macedonia. It's hard to get away from all the distractions and technology these days to really listen to God. Hope you are both having some good space to do that on your pilgrimage.

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    Author

    Rev John Castle has been Rector of St Michael & All Angels Church in Sandhurst, Berks since October 2004.
    Before that he was Assistant Vicar at Namirembe Cathedral, Kampala, Uganda after serving a curacy in Southborough, Kent. He is married to Georgina, and they have 3 grown-up sons and two labrador dogs.  John enjoys playing the trumpet, travelling to other countries to learn about their culture and history, and studying biblical Hebrew.




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