The organist librarian

Thursday Liz went to college. I swam 20! First time for weeks - been sleeping badly, waking up and dreaming. To church to get my pitch pipe and also returned indexed scores and picked up some more. To Notting Hill Unitarian church for a most interesting film about Orthodox spirituality. It was pointed out that it was very male in focus covering Sinai, Mt Athos and Russian monasteries. I came home to get my senior railcard and to East Croydon on the bus. Just caught fast train to Crawley  -then a cold wait for bus to hospital. Philip was pleased to see me and is making good progress - still cannot walk. He liked the small chess set from the Christmas cracker! I left at 8 and had a cold wait for first train but then changed at Three Bridges onto a fast one. Friday to St Matthew's and Margaret spoke well on Celtic spirituality. I had prepared Celtic evening prayer and it went very well especially St Columba. They liked Ciaran's sheep. The theme was Psalm 23. Unfortunately I misl...

Saturday to Mount Street centre next to Farm Street church for a workshop on Orthodox spirituality led by Mother Sarah from Bath. I have met her before when I did a course on Orthodox Lent at Sarum college in 1999. She spoke about icons and then we read in turns a wonderful prayer written in a Russian concentration cmap in 1934. 2 people there I knew (Ruth Forrest comes to the library) and enjoyed meeting people like Stephen Penna server from South Croydon and Waddon. Split into groups after lunch and talked about prayer and he we can become prayer in our lives. 100 repetitions of the Jesus prayer did send me off to sleep. Had a look in Farm Street church (wedding just finished) and then to the cathedral where service for the sick was in full flood (lots of Marian hymns). Served at 6 p.m. Mass and home. It was a most stimulating day and interesting parallels. Orthodox put the cross into a large expanse of water on the Epiphany and the men dive to catch it. It is like the lighted Easter...