Another excellent day was experienced by ten of us at Winbourne in Mulgoa yesterday for what was our third Quiet Day, which we’re now going to be calling "Breathing Space".

As we’ve been doing, we’re using some "ancient words" reworked into a contemporary form of liturgy, corporately declaring some of the great creeds, praying the Lord’s Prayer (or Our Father), the litany of repentance and even parts of Patrick’s Breastplate.

Why are we doing this?  If you remember, the Lord spoke to me through Jeremiah 6:16 about six months ago, in response to my question about why I was being led to explore a reconnection to the ancient nature of our Christian faith:

This is what the LORD says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls.

We’re discovering two things. Firstly, that there is an incredible amount of "oil" on these ancient prayers and practices for the 21st Century, and secondly, in accordance with the Wind Farm vision, the wind of the Spirit seems to be blowing stronger from this direction than any other at this time.

The practices of using the "monastic prayer book", that is, praying the Book of Psalms; pubicly reading and humbly listening to Old and New Testment Scriptures; and praying some of the great prayers of the church, all coupled with times of intentional silence designed to posture us to listen to Heaven in order to hear the voice of our Great Shepherd; these things are having a profound effect on those who attend.

I am a Protestant. Therefore, there are some ancient church prayers and practices which I have never experienced because they have been outside my tradition. Prayers like the Angelus begin safely then swing widely outside my theology. Therefore, they are prayers I cannot embrace in good conscience.

In that vein, one of the practices I thought I would never bother with was the ancient tradition of the Stations of the Cross. However, over recent weeks, God gave me some insight as to how, through some simple tweaking, this could be a very special experience for all concerned .. and it was.

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Tomorrow, Saturday 23rd February, is our first Quiet Day for 2008. These are now scheduled once a month across this year and we would love it if you joined us. You can check the dates here.

We’re expecting around 20 people to be with us and there are some very special things planned, including a "Protestant reworking" of the Stations of the Cross featuring thought-provoking meditations and spectacular drawings of each of the station scenes; all to be used as a tool to focus our hearts on the astonishing sacrifice of Christ and for the upcoming Easter weekend toward the end of March.

On Monday afternoon, I will be travelling to South Nowra, NSW, to participate and teach in the first of four Australian Prophetic Round Table schools to be held across Australia throughout 2008.

With that in mind, sometime tomorrow, Chapter 7 of our book reading will be published here on the Wind Farm and then, when I get back from the Australian Prophetic School run by the APRT, I will begin to sum up why I believe this antique book has so much prophetic resonance for the Church today and the hour we find ourselves in.

I trust it will be worth the wait.

Kerry

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Because of the increased interest in the Wind Farm Quiet Days in 2007, we’ve decided to increase their frequency to once a month across 2008. So, if life has become too turbulent and "noisy", here are more opportunities for you to unplug from the rat-race for a day a month in order to intentionally still your heart and purposefully engage with God and others.

Running from 10am – 5pm, our Quiet Days are structured for prayer, worship, reading, biblical meditation and a community experience.

Each time we’ll be meeting in "The Chapel"; a beautiful room at the Edmund Rice Retreat and Conference Centre, better known as "Winbourne", which is set on 250 acres in the Mulgoa Valley and was once the home of a notable Australian colonial family.

Generally, you’ll find the Quiet Days will fall on the last Saturday of every month. However, in a couple of instances, you’ll find they fall one week earlier. We’re a week earlier in June due to another booking at Winbourne on the weekend we wanted, while the other in December will allow us to meet for a special time just prior to Christmas .. so, check the dates and mark your calendar!

23rd February

29th March

26th April

31st May

21st June

26th July

30th August

27th September

25th October

29th November

20th December

So, what are our Quiet Days like?  Well, click here to read the report and the comments from our very first Quiet Day to get an idea.

You will need to bring your Bible, perhaps your journal and any devotional books you might want to use during the times of silence. There will also be ample room for creativity, so if you would like to bring a musical instrument or perhaps art materials, please feel free.

There is also a labyrinth on site that will be made available to us across the whole day.

Tea and coffee will be provided across the day, but you’ll need to bring some meat and whatever else you like for a BBQ lunch.

There is a small cost of $10 per person for the day and you will need to register your intention to come by Wednesday 20th February for our first Quiet Day of 2008 as I need to give final numbers to Winbourne. So, in summary …

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