For the Well-being of the World

John Philip Newell has a new book out called Praying with the Earth: a Prayerbook for Peace. The book is a book of liturgical prayers, and as such, is meant to be prayed instead of simply read. We'll use this book on August 5-7, 2011 when we gather for a Celtic Retreat at Roads End Retreat Center near Boone, N.C. I invite you to join us if you feel led to celebrate Celtic spirituality, to learn more about it, or simply to enjoy the out-of-doors that prompted so much of the Celtic way of being.

On a recent trip to Ireland, I noticed more than anything how moved I was by the landscape. Ireland is known for its lushness and green, yet there seem to be few forested areas. Instead, the Island is a mystical collection of fertile grasslands punctuated by lakes, seashore, streams, rivers--and sheep. To travel around the countryside means to meander the inlets of the sea that hugs the land. It means to wander through villages, to confront mountains and valleys, and to pass through rain, fog, and a few bright days as well. All the while, my eyes could not get enough of the natural beauty that has been preserved in a land that has been inhabited since long before the Anglo-Saxons invaded Britain.

The landscape holds sacred secrets not unlike our own inner depths. I believe we have an inner landscape that is punctuated by the promptings of our wiser selves, that speaks to us in our dreams and in the very essence of our breathing. When we grasp the concept of our Christ self or true consciousness, we become like the landscape that is full of greenspace, flowering plants, and water that in due season becomes fully evolved. It is also incumbent on us to protect that deeper space that exists below the "public" eye, to keep it safe and private from the collective until it's the right time to use our potential--our creative energy.

The Celtic people were in tune with nature and with human nature. May God help us to be so like-minded.

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If you would like more information on our Celtic Retreat at Roads End, please visit http://anamcarasmantle.org/celticretreat.html. Also, John Philip Newell will be in North Carolina at Lutheridge in Hendersonville, N.C. in December 2011. For more information, visit http://www.awakeningsoulpresents.org/.