Not particularly religious but just been to chapel and what an unbelievably soothing and upliting experience it was.......

[moondog]

Can't remember the last time I sat in absolute silence just reflecting and giving thanks. Dd (4) sat by me quietly with my arm around her and to be in that bare austere little place on a Welsh hillside really set me uo for the day.

The contrast between this and the contemporary society which seems to be primarily concerned with who is shagging who and who is buying what just seemed obscene.

Also thought of all this interior design crap about sanctuaries,minimalism,soothing the soul blah blah blah.
We can get it for free!!!!!!!

I'm going to make it a regular thing.
Try it-it was great.

thats why I go to church moony - i really enjoy it but I am not particularly religious either IYSWIM

i do like bare little austere churches too

must be the methodist in me

Welsh chapels are the fabbest most austere places in the world.
Just waiting for some incredibly annoying trendy photographer to produce a coffee table book on them and their style.

Note to self: find out about local photography courses......

lol

surely thats destroying your 'interior design crap' theory

No,I just mean that we already have the 'sanctuaries for the body and soul in which to indulge in some me time' as the modern blurb goes.

It's called church/chapel.
Just that anything can be repackaged/marketed,usually by people wanting to make some money!!

My MIL (who is Welsh) looks fwd to chapel in her village every Sunday. She finds it spiritually uplifting and always seems so relaxed and 'fresh' on her return. She has the traditional Sunday lunch out of the way by 1pm and then spends an hour or so reading and reflecting at the table followed by shower, dress and off she goes.
Very similar to my routine on a Friday. I think it's great.

Moondog - The whole contrast scenario never ceases to amaze me!

ChaCha..yes!
There were a few mothers there..we are getting the Sunday school running again.We were having a laugh about how we are morphing into middle aged pillars of the community and how we'd be starting to cook Sunday lunches next, to which one replied that that was exactly what she was going to do.

I was quite jealous actually-I'd be cooking the same if my dh was here....
Chapel,a walk,Sunday roast with lashings of wine and all the papers followed by an early bed.
Sounds like heaven to me!

My boys are used to a very child-friendly Baptist church.
I took them today to the first 15 mins of Quaker meeting - they've been 3 or 4 times before - and they hated it. They were really wriggly and shuffly and noisy. I love it, and would like them to love it, but I don't want to take them again now.

roisin..I quite fancy giving a Quaker meeting a go.
Do you really spend the entire time in silence?
Is there a leader?
Do people sometimes just jump up to say something?
I'm dying to know.

I went to a Quaker school moondog, so for me it feels a bit like coming home.

Yes, you sit in silence - there are usually books around if you want to read something - the Bible or Quaker Advices and Queries. And yes people stand up and say things. There is no leader.

The quaker website has some interesting stuff on it. Hang on, and I'll try and find it for you.

Yes beetroot,I know how you feel....
Roisin,what sort of comments do people make? Are they private thoughts voiced out loud and thus not logical to the rest of the meeting or are they things that people feel they need to point out?
Can you give me an example please??

Oh all sorts of things ... sometimes people read from a book, sometimes more political/ecological things, sometimes thoughts/experiences that have happened to them. For example someone might talk about a recent experience of bereavement, and something that helped them. Dh was in meeting the week the Pope died, and someone made a comment about hoping that wherever the Pope was he would have no regrets ...! LOL!

Our meeting house is very close to a Quaker pilgrimage site, where people come for conferences and stay over. So we tend to get quite a few visitors. They often stand up and talk about some of their experiences over the weekend.

Meeting lasts about an hour. Sometimes no-one speaks at all, sometimes 2 or 3, sometimes more. It's very variable.

We have been made very welcome at this meeting - despite the boys' fidgetting and wriggling! So I would encourage you to give it a try.

Great message Moondog - I love sitting in church on a sunday morning and having no obligations - just time to feel grateful and recharge. More people should try it!

Thanks you two..been thinking about it more and more actually..
Roisin,would the speaker do something to alert the group's attention (ie cough or start with 'Well,I'd like to tell you something..'or just launch straight in? Also,do people always listen or are some of them continuing with their own thing??)

(Typing very slow..dh back after six weeks away.
Did his last MSc exam in London tonight before catching the train so we are celebrating with quite a bit of Champagne....)

moondog - Dwi'n mynd i'r gwely mewn munud ond dwi eisiau i dweud shwmae yn cyntaf. Dwi ddim ar MN much (?) ar hyn o bryd achos dwi'n yn gwaith rhan (?) amswer. Os gwelwch yn dda, dweud "Pob lwc" i'r dy gwr dy am y exam. Belated, dwi'n gwybod ond....ah well. Am un wac i un arall, pob lwc i ti.

Dwi'n gwybod beth ti'n dweud. Dwi'n annibynwyr. (Ond dwi'n "Ddim on Saes yn siarad annibynwyr!" Mae'n swir lot o pethau yn mynd yn goll yn translation. Ond yr hwyl yn aros. Ddim gair yn eisiau, ie?) Fy tri gair dwi'n yn cari yw "Arglwydd dyma fi...." Dwi ddim yn eisiau dim byd arall. Dwi'n swr fy Cymaraeg yn anobeithiol ond falle ti'n deall beth dwi'n trio i dweud.

Amser i fynd, dwi'n meddwl. Ond wyt ti'n aros yn y Gogledd nawr neu rhaid it ti yn mynd yn y awerddon i'r lle arall?

Rhaid i fi fynd. Fel Mr M Geraint yn dweud...Am y tro nesaf - hwyl fawr!

Ifor..yn gwybod yn union beth wyt ti'n dweud!!
Diolch o galon am dy neges caredig..
Rhaid i fi fynd i fyny i weld beth sydd...dwi'n siwr bod dh wedi disgyn i gysgu yn darllen stori i dd.
Druan,mae o mor flinedig ac yn gorfod dreifio i Aberteifi fory i weld ei fam (efo cancr yn ysbyty Caefyrddin) a'd dad (efo dementia ers pum mlynedd ac mewn cartrefnyrsio yn Aberteifi..)

Diolch....eisiau dy weld yn fwy aml!!

XXXX

moondog - Diolch am dy post di. Mae flin da fi, fy post fi yn hwyr. Dwi wedi trio i postio atebion dyddiau yn ol ond dwi'n wedi ofni y geiriadau yn anghywir. (Dd yn helpu fi ar hyn o bryd.) Dwi'n trist iawn am newyddion am dy MIL a FIL. Dwi wedi colli fy mam a fy tad fi; dwi'n gwybod am y trist teimlo'n pam nhw yn sal iawn. Pam fy rhieni fi yn sal, dwi'n wedi byw milltiroedd i ffwrdd ac roedd e'n annodd iawn. Mae dd yn eisiau i ewch arno y PC ar y CBBC website a felly mae rhaid i fi fynd. Tata am nawr (y phrase wedi dewis am dd.) Ifor.