Recently i went on a short break with my wife and on our way stopped by a small town and browsed the local secondhand stores. I had a lovely surprise pick up with a small book titled ‘Daily Readings with Julian of Norwich’ (Vol 1). We had planned the couple of days away with a few things in mind to do. But our time evolved quite differently. I’m usually one for keeping to plans and knowing what’s coming up, but as I read some of Julian’s readings, I found myself slowing down somewhat.
We ended up simply enjoying the parks and streets of where we were staying instead of going to the planned destinations. Such a joy to explore the array of older style housing, beautiful parks and gardens. We even found an exhibition in the local art gallery we didn’t even know about which was very uplifting. My wife came up with the apt word of ‘ambling’ in the presence and being open to the gifts presented to us.
I explored more about this lovely word ‘amble’. Amble is described as both a noun i.e. meaning a stroll and as verb meaning to walk in a slow, relaxed way. We both agreed how relaxing the experience was and also how spiritually enriching it was – focusing on awareness, of being who we are in the presence of God our Father and Mother – so beautifully described by Julian of Norwich. What a joy to be open to the opportunities before us every day ‘intended to be savored slowly, and to allow the silence to dissolve in the heart for a brief period to rest in God’ (p9).
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