The organist librarian

Mixed feelings about the day with Richard Woods on Eckhart. 2 Altar Server s enrolled at Mass into Archconfraternity of St Stephen. Choir and strings from Christchurch RC cathedral sang Mozart and Mawby sounded odd with strings. Very good organists dinner at West Wickham URC with Daniel Moult and Canon John Thewlis giving good speeches.

Swam 20. Tuesday set off from East Croydon station at 9.30 and train to Bedford and 41 bus to Turvey. Although I have been there before for some reason I walked down Jack's Lane and the entrance was not signposted so ended up on the farm in the hot sun. Walked back to the Abbey and arrived for Mass after midday prayer. Sr Esther directed me to the monastery and Fr John settled me in. Had lunch with the nuns and monks in the house. My room is next to the bathroom and is full of magazines in French! Being at the back of the house it is quiet. Found some free books by Arnold and read one - excellent. He is a Lutheran living in community. After Vespers asked about confession and Fr John indicated that he was already seeing 2 people on Thursday and it looked unlikely. Given that this was the main reason for the visit.... Did some sketching in the garden. Wednesday was a truly wonderful day - lovely weather. Did not sleep well and up at 5.30 for 6.10 readings. The nuns sing beautifully ...

Swam 20.  To nurse for Hepatitis booster and new passport came. Liz went to the osteopath and I went to the South London interfaith group meeting at which I spoke about the Conversations for the soul plans for Streatham mosque in November. 6 people interested. To Guildhall art gallery - the special photography exhibition was actually very small. More interesting were the portraits. The London amphitheatre ruins are well presented. The Victorian paintings do not inspire and there is a harrendous marble statue of Thatcher on loan from the House of Commons! To the Courtauld for a one room exhibition on collecting Gauguin. Arrived at the hall early and to the talk with Robert Simpson and the principal clarinet of the Phlharmonia who gave some interesting insights into Essa-Pekka's approach. The Mozart was fun and rather liked Midori playing the new Eotvos concerto. Bruckner 7 as inspiring as ever and used torch for my own score. Up early and finished dissertation and sent it off - 13...

Swam 20. Put washing away and tidied up and had lunch. To Senate House library to get more scores and work on Davies and Walshe on Eckhart. Ironically now an invite to the Eckhart conference for £150 but it coincides with the end of the Proms and while I'd love to her Michael, Ganeri is also speaking! Lots of graduates about in gowns and mortar boards. No 10 bus to hall and late for talk. Vickie kept our seats. Last night some people stayed in the bar after first Prom and may not have paid for the Wilson Prom at all! One couple took our usual seats and then stood at the rail! Brilliant Billy Budd from Glyndebourne. Mark Padmore excellent and Andrew Davis conducted. It was a pity the talk got bogged down in whether Melville is gay or not! 

Went to visit Josie after lunch and she is well and remembering better. Then to Dennis's and they walked home. Liz went to the Prom and Ann, Paul and Dennis went to Spamalot. I went to an excellent lecture on Meister Eckhart by Anthony Finnerty at Meditatio - there were more there and he clearly liked my question about No thing and God. Friday swam 20 despite the pool being busy. Took Ann shopping and got mdf piece for mosaics. Took Paul to get map copied and laminated in West Norwood and had a drink and carrot cake. Louise arrived with the boys so we had lunch and Ciarán had stories and played in the garden. Claire came and took family photos. Bruce arrived from Jersey in the morning and looks well. Good to see him. We all went to Dennis's as Louise was staying the night there with the boys. Fish and chips, ginger beer and champagne! Home to Baileys on ice. Dennis off to Ireland in the morning - good to see him smile after the disappointment of not getting the transfer South....

Swam 22 and put down black stuff in front garden then stones came and Bruce spread them out. To mosaic and tai chi - Tony was late and I left at 1 to get to Heythrop. Got vouchers for restaurant for filling in student surveys. Spoke to Eddie Howells and Bob Thomas about Eckhart. The seminar was on love and knowledge in Christian spirituality in relation to Augustine, Bonaventure and the Cloud of Unknowing. Stefan had some great cartoons! Paul was good on Bonaventure. Had dinner and then to Covent Garden for a most enjoyable Zauberflote on student ticket £8! Christopher Maltman was excellent as was Brindley Sherratt. Home to watch final of University challenge.

Swam 22. Did some research for talk looking back through the blog - in the end I had too much material! To Corpus Christi Brixton - church open so able to sit in there and wrote in book for Fr Tom. Hall was OK and showed films on laptop. Maud and Xavier spoke well and all went well. Xavier particularly liked the mosaic from Jaipur so gave him the copy and Music and Liturgy as well. Nice lunch and a good turnout. To Heythrop and guess what Joey Draycott did not turn up to talk about his weird dissertation so chatted to 2 philosophy students and also saw Lokahi foundation director. Larry is off to Crete. Read some Eckhart reviews. To Angel and meditation centre. Laurence Freeman was late so started with meditation and he gave an excellent talk on Jesus and mentioning Dalai Lama and Panikkar. I asked a question about rainbow body and Eckhart. Nice eats and met Bridget, Maggie, Chris, Natasha and Liam. 30 there. Finished at 9.20 and train delayed coming home. Sent menu choices to John Thi...

  "One way tor recognize that a person has been caught in this unending whirlwind of pain is the complete inability to dwell in the present moment. Everything becomes an obsession with the past or a panic-driven fear of the future. One way to help such a person, then, would be simple acts aimed at grounding him or her in the present: a walk in the park, the laughter of a child, a visit from a friend, a therapeutic massage - anything that will help the person let go of the obsessive mind and feel the groundedness of the body again. Eckhart ....'When we are lifted above all things nothing can oppress us' ... Freedom is available now in the present moment." From We walk the path together; learning from Thich Nhat Hanh and Meister Eckhart by Brian J.Pierce. OP. p. 123

Reading about Meister Eckhart. Scanner playing up again. Listened to excellent evensong from Chichester cathedral. Duncan rang - seems I am playing for Mass tonight on a keyboard! Good The Choir with Mary King and University challenge was good too. Last night watched excellent programme on Syrian history with Dan Snow.

Monday to mosaic and border now done. Ta'i chi until 1 p.m. only 2 of us there! I missed the train to Strawberry Hill as they changed the platform and I was on my Blackberry. Result I was late as I went on the other line via Teddington. The seminar was most interesting and we learnt about Elizabeth of the Trinity and Eckhart - no wonder Buddhists like him so much! Gemma Simmonds did a good intro covering the territory although she seems a bit formidable. Chatted to several people. Sadly the St Mary's chapel appeared to be closed. Home by 7.30 and watched University challenge and Masterchef . Liz went with Bruce to Birmingham to paint the flat prior to selling. Tuesday slept OK and swam 28 then straight to Currys and changed Humax - waited 25 minutes as only one person on customer services and a queue! No more lines on the screen. To Bromley PC for James Orford's excellent recital. The Wedge again, Vierne, Bridge Adagio (very nice) Durufle. Could have done without Les Berg...