Wednesday 23 November 2011

360° grey sky today ... with rain!

 The post-breakfast walk was curtailed when the rain came on.  There'd been just time to catch the grey sky behind the lamppost ... and that was it!  So, returning to the lounge with a cup of coffee was the best alternative.
 It was cosy and warm there while the rain beat upon the windows and the wind howled around.  What a contrast to yesterday's fine blue sky.
 With good books and excellent coffee there's not a problem!
Today's Ignatian exercises begin with Philippians 3:10-11.  "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead."
It's funny how some passages have the effect of transporting you to another place, another time ... this is one that takes me back to a sermon I heard in London Bible College in the mid-1970s!   That's going back a bit ... and is one of only a handful of sermons that I can recall.
At coffee time I had a wander around the house to pick out some of the stained glass features.  Even in the bedroom corridors many of the sash windows are exquisite designs ... toilet doors ... unexpected panels ... skylights ... everywhere you look there's some piece of the glazier's creative art.

A window along the bedroom corridor.
 Stained glass above the entrance bay window.
 Another corridor gem.
 And another!
 The door into the Gents - this is also the vestry.
 In the chapel ... one of the panels in the east window.
 The skylight in the chapel.  England, Scotland and Ireland represented ... don't know why Wales isn't there ... will try to find out.
 The window beside the Prie Dieu that I use in the chapel.
 The top section of one of the east windows.
 Altar and part of the east window.
 Close up of the chapel skylight.

Chapel entrance doors.











 One of a pair of skylights above the main staircase.
Inlaid newel posts on the main staircase ... a work of art!












Once again today there were over a hundred pictures in the camera from a short walk around the house.  What on earth is going to happen in Kenya?
"The Accidental Pilgrim" (Maggie Dawn) speaks of the journey being as important as the destination ... and maybe that's what I'm finding here ... the treasures and beauty along the way are inspirational ... stopping to look and appreciate all that is around is part of the pilgrimage.
In one of the lounge areas there's an original handwrought copper plaque by Hugo O'Carroll.  It is based on a fifth century Latin Cross design from one of the ancient Irish sites.
Here is the Christian message to an ancient pagan land:

Redemption and Resurrection to life eternal through re-birth in Christ. 

2 comments:

Nancy Wallace said...

The Gents is the Vestry!

Liz's Photos said...

Yet again.beautiful photograqphs! I look forward to reading your blog each night. Hope you are having a restful and prayful time.
Kind regards