Spiritual Values of a Small Pilgrim Place
1. Simplicity
Contemplation by a Mountain Cross
Making a space by removing what is superfluous. Enough chairs or benches but not too many. Breathing spaces need to be uncluttered.
Focal points for ‘paying attention’:
- water, symbol of beginnings, a font or fount.
- earth, symbol of embodiment and care for the planet, a bowl of sand or soil in which to place lighted candles.
- air, symbol of breath and language, a place to listen thoughtfully to one another, to our ancestors, to the divine whisper.
- fire, symbol of transfiguration, a place of sacrifice and meal, the fire that consumes and transforms, an altar-table.
Such furnishings to be moveable but beautiful, where possible in a coherent design, and certainly not mean and cheap.
The welcome and refreshments to be simple too – not intrusive, not dominating, not overwhelming. “May I introduce you to this place and then get out of the way. I’m at the back if you have any questions or would like refreshments.”
2. Silence
We use words from time to time, in prayers and conversations, but we hope they surface from silence and fall back into deeper silence.
Let the silence do its work, until you can almost touch it and taste it.
If the space is simple, without clutter, let the atmosphere be silent, without chatter.
Then the praying and the conversing will be thoughtful.
3. Solitude
You are invited to be alone here, whether you have arrived on your own or in company.
Companionship grows and deepens when we embrace solitude.
In the silence and the solitude, you may become aware that the place is full of presence.
The building may be isolated, but it may prove to be the least lonely of places…