It has become my tradition for the past couple of years to leave Loseley behind and move up to my Dad's house in the Surrey hills for lots of winter walks and warm log fires during the Christmas & New Year break. It is invigorating to get away and surround myself with the deepest darkest woods and forests in Surrey. Places where you can walk for hours on end and see very few people. Woods where squirrels and deer wander, where the ground smells of moss and pine needles.
Am I exaggerating? No, I don't think so. When I drive up into these hills I feel like I am leaving the town behind. I feel the pace of living slow down. It actually smells different up here. I open the car door and am immediately hit by the fragrance of woodsmoke in the air and a faint trace of apples and hay.
This area of heathland and forest feed my soul and my creativity. I have recently discovered a fascination with the beauty of twigs covered in lichen. In December I made a wreath for the door out of pieces of ever green pine branch, lengths of ivy, sprigs of holly and a scattering of pine cones & lichen coated twigs. I can't get enough of the variety of deep rich colours that lichen dresses itself in from mustard yellows to vivid lime greens.
During these cold winter days sitting in front of the fire I take time to sit and listen to music and teaching. This year I decided to get myself out of my Christian bubble and listened to the philosopher Alain De Botton. His video titled 'Why you will marry the wrong person' captured my attention. (Click on the link to go to the video.)
I confess that I found myself immediately liking Alain and being seduced by his gorgeous voice, his intelligence and witty delivery of points. What he said also made sense. We are basically wounded children who are attracted to 'the familiar' in our relationships. We have been sold a dream of romance, we are told to allow ourselves to 'fall in love' with someone who understands us, accepts us and we feel connected with. Having met each other and joined together, we then expect them to be mind readers and sulk when they don't pick up on our signals.
After recognising that nearly everyone marries the wrong person he then proceeds to take us from feeling angry about this to deeply sad!
Does this sound depressing? Well, not really. I laughed a lot along the way and felt comforted that we are all in fact on the edge of insanity.
Since I enjoyed watching the first video so much, I went on to watch a few more. Who can resist a man with that lovely voice and a twinkle in his eye?
My acquaintance with Alain de Botton all started a couple of years ago when I tried to go along to an event called Sunday Papers which promised relevant and interesting talks for the inquiring mind in a beautiful historic old building in the centre of London. A place to sit in comfy deep sofas surrounded by floor to ceiling bookshelves laden with good literature and enjoy a relaxed Sunday together mulling over the extraordinariness of life. I was looking forward to it, but in the end the event was cancelled and I lost money on the ticket which was reimbursed but the handling fee wasn't!
From doing a little research beforehand around the idea of Sunday Papers, I had read about the philosopher Alain de Botton and how he has set up an organisation called School of Life in which he has introduced the idea of Sunday School to help fill the gap that church leaves for anyone who doesn't believe in God. Click on the link to view one of his Sunday School services teaching on pessimism.
"It's clear to me that religions are in the end too complex, interesting and on occasion wise to be abandoned simply to those who believe in them".
His teaching on pessimism is basically along the same lines as the book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible. To summarise = Everything is meaningless. Focus on death because life is short and unfair. Living in a society that rewards merit and punishes failure leads to high suicide rates, as does living in an individualistic society instead of a community based one.
I won't go on because what he says is viewable in the link and I don't want to misquote him or misrepresent him. He is, as I said before, very clever, very witty and he does succeed in delivering a Sunday School with a difference. He makes so many valid points and you will enjoy listening to him. I recommend watching a few of his talks but be warned, there is little hope in what he teaches except for pointing out the irony & humour of living in our society.
My Christmas & New Year break spent walking in these woods and forests has been fed by many conversations and meals with friends. We have spent time pondering life around the fire. Listening to music by Hans Zimmer with drink in hand.
I ended last year feeling hopeful and expectant for this year 2019. There are always new people just around the corner who are about to enter centre stage and enrich our world.
I met one on a walk about a week ago. I was wandering down from the fields where my favourite horse lives and pottering down a muddy track where the 3 legged dog usually runs our to greet me with a happy grin. Walking with a friend, we ran into an elderly lady, the owner of the dog. Having never met us before she quickly and generously invited us in for a cup of tea. It was humbling and kind and made me feel happy that society has not fallen apart as the media likes to tell us. We talked about her time in Australia living and working with the Aboriginal people. We talked about why her dog is three legged. We talked about horses and smart phones. She became my first new friend of 2019.
I returned a couple of days later to retrieve a scarf left behind, as we sat chatting two more people arrived, one a lodger, another a young man she knew. Time ran away from us as we sat chatting in her lounge warmed by the wood stove. This time our conversation turned to the homeless and how they arrive at that position, with insight given from the gentleman visiting who was once homeless himself. The sun went down and I returned home through the woods in the dark without a torch/flashlight.
It was a cold winter night and I could barely see where I was walking but I felt safe because I know these woodland tracks inside out. I have been walking them for nearly 35 years. I listened to an owl calling. I imagined I was entering Narnia and felt the magic of my imagination let loose. I looked up at the stars above. I tried to take a photo which is above. You can just about make out the outline of the trees overhead.
I pondered on Alain De Botton's philosophising and concluded that although he didn't sound like a fool, he acted like one. The Bible states in the book of the Psalms ... the fool says in his heart .. there is no God. (Psalm 14:1)
I kept replaying his Sunday School service in my mind and realised that although Alain's delivery was exceptional, his philosophy was going round in an endless cycle of misery. Short sighted and hopeless. How meaningless and empty his meeting had left me feeling. Yes, I was entertained. But the singing together aspect was pitiful especially when I compare it to my church experience. Singing is more attractive to me when it is loud and joyful and exuberant, not quiet and apologetic and timid. I think of the great singing experiences out there, being part of a crowd at a football game, singing the lyrics back up to the stage at a pop concert, or belting out the carols at a midnight congregation on Christmas eve having been loosened up by a visit to the pub prior to the service. Or a thousand people singing together at G Live on a Sunday morning. The shared experience of singing together can be so uplifting.
But I guess that was the point of Alain's Sunday School. A philosophical secular look at society which of course will end in disappointment. However since I have observed that Alain is a very educated man, I expect that as his life unfolds he will keep reading and researching, hopefully not just philosophy but also science. The science of our finely tuned incredible Universe. And I don't doubt that his incredible brain will finally lead him to the conclusion that actually it is basically impossible for there to not be a creator.
- the fool says in his heart .. there is no God. (Psalm 14:1)