Today is Thursday 24th May. Thursdays are a “day off” for students, and
there is no work, lectures or study times scheduled for us. Thursdays give us time to explore the
surrounding area, visit towns to pick-up supplies, write letters or journal or
simply just rest. The first day off a
group of us walked via footpaths, hills and fields to Petersfield pub, today is
my 2nd day off and I’ve been getting back into running so I ran for
an hour via English lanes to Petersfield (nearest town) to get my watch fixed
and pick-up some “snacks”. The nearest mini
supermarket otherwise is about a 30 minute walk but the nearest pub is 15 minutes. More pubs than supermarkets here in the UK.
I’ve been in the UK two weeks now and it does feel like a
very long time!! The first 6 days was spent relaxing and
fellowshipping with good friends David and Daene who ironically live also in
Hampshire only 20 minutes from the L’Abri manor house. The weather has been really good so far in
May and certainly seen a lot more sun days than overcast days although the
nights are still pretty cool (colder than Auckland). I'm very relaxed away from the noise of normal life.
I’ve been at L’Abri just over a week now and had a chance to
experience a full weekly cycle. Each day
is quite structured and laid out for us each morning so having a watch is quite
important. Meals, lectures and sessions are
at the same times generally, the variance days besides the day off are Sundays
and Mondays. Sunday is a chance to visit
local churches and there are no chores assigned for us to complete. Monday is a prayer day and features a silent
lunch for people to pray from the prayer list or meditate on things. Sessions are shortened on Mondays.
A session is a 3 hour block where you are assigned to either
do your study or help out with various tasks around the manor. There are 2 sessions a day, morning and
afternoon. L’Abri believe that chores allow
for a practical part of a person’s faith.
They also provide time to get to know your fellow students in more depth
as well as serve others. The fees the
students pay don’t even cover half of the costs required to run the manor
house. The house is old so does require
a lot of maintenance along with the cost to heat and light it and providing
food for all the hungry people!
I asked to be assigned to chores in the afternoon as I am finding
that after a big lunch, concentration is not as good in the afternoon for
study. They have kindly rostered me on accordingly
and also assisted with my special meal request.
The first few days I tried eating gluten more than normal and it was
making me tired, lethargic and moody, so now have asked to go GF.
The workers (11) and volunteers (4) here are just so
amazing; hard working, hospitable and caring are some of the words I would
use. Every student and volunteer gets
assigned a worker mentor for their stay here if a week or longer. I’ve been assigned Jim who is the director of
English L’Abri and has been ministering here for 14 years now. He’s a proper Englishman and after our first
discussion suggested I read a book called “Perfecting ourselves to death”,
which I’ve found incredibly helpful and eye-opening as it has identified the
reasons for why I am who I am and why I behave in a certain way. Basically the book is about perfectionism and
drawing comparisons between healthy and unhealthy perfectionism traits that we (I)
might have. So after liberating
information I need to now think about how I can “work” on areas in my life
which are unhealthy.
I wanted to get back into book reading whilst here and
currently have several other books on the go.
During study time, I’m also working through the copy of The Pilgrim’s
progress which Keith gave me before I came and finding that really interesting and
though provoking as Bunyan allegories the Christian journey of salvation and
sanctification. Also reading “the book
thief” for my fiction reading.
Another key aspect of L’Abri is ideas and thinking. Francis Schaeffer
who established L’Abri had his own crisis of faith and as a result sees the
idea of faith and reason being very much intertwined and also able to be expressed
through art and culture. As a result
thinking and questions are highly valued here and besides the weekly lectures
there is normally a discussion over lunchtimes where there is the opportunity for
questions to be asked. An example is the
question from yesterday was “does God have a sense of humour and if so how
might it be apparent?”.
The community aspect of L’Abri is a very key way of life
here. The introductory lecture featured the
3 pillars of L’Abri. These are: asking
questions, hospitality and community. There
are about 15-20 students currently, of all different ages, although the mean age
probably is around the mid-late 20’s.
The first week half the group was from North America (US and Canada),
but as people come and go that changes although there are still a lot of
Americans here and following behind is Scandinavian countries. Lots of people who turn up now seem to be
only staying for a week or two. Anyway
the community is strong, we eat together, work together, play games (lots of volleyball)
together and explore together and so on.
I’m pretty sure part of this is to try and move peoples thinking away
from post-modern individualism and learn to function and become established in
a community. For an introvert L’Abri may
be a little challenging but you do have times to recharge away in solitude when
needed.
I’ve rambled on for a while now so I’ll end things here and
talk about other aspects of life here in my next update, whenever that will be😀. Thanks so much for your prayers and if you
have any specific prayer needs I’m not aware of please fire them my way. If you think someone would benefit from this
update please pass it on.
My photos of my trip can be found here also.
