2011 banner making team
Carmel have confirmed that there will be a Celtic Retreat to be led by Bishop Eric Pike and his team in the second or third week of August 2012. Please watch this site the final dates and get your booking in a soon as possible to secure your room.
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GPS
‘God’s Positioning Service’
The most southerly peak in the Twelve Apostles range in the Cape Peninsula is known as Judas Peak. For the Monday Mountaineers, climbing the peak on Monday 14th February the name was particularly apt as our collective memory ‘betrayed’ us on the day! Perhaps it was because it was Valentine’s Day, or maybe it was the heat!
A group of eight Monday Mountaineers (all retired men) began the climb from Hout Bay at 08h30. Even at that hour the sun was beating down but as our climb was up the beautiful Myburgh Waterfall Ravine we climbed in the welcome shade of the ravine forest. Being summertime the ravine was dry and we were able to ‘boulder hop’ a long way up the ravine with the steep rock faces rising up on either side of us. As we neared the apex of the ravine we had to do some mild rock climbing up the face of the dry waterfall then we all scrambled up and out of the ravine into the bright sunshine.
With Grootkop on our right and Judas peak on our left we made our way across the plateau where, fortunately, there was somewhat of a breeze to cool us down. We enjoyed our lunch in the shade at the top of Pimple Gorge then set off to make our descent via Llandudno Ravine back to Hout Bay. And that’s where it all went wrong! We followed the wrong path down the ravine until we reached a point where we could go no further! In the discussion that followed the reasons for our dilemma varied from, ‘there must have been washaways since we were last here’ to, ‘no, this is the wrong path’. So, still in good spirits, though feeling the effects of the heat we retraced our steps. Back up to the top again! Then began the hunt for the correct path. Frustrating, because way down, about 300 metres below us we could see where we had to get to but just where was the path down?
After about an hour and a half of searching up and down, the heat intensifying and water resources beginning to run low a decision was made that we ought to retrace our steps and go all the way back and down the way we had come up in the morning. It was certainly a long and tedious option but one which would get us down the mountain, albeit very much later that we had planned. It was then that I realised that, despite in all my teaching about the Christianity of the Celts and their understanding of the presence of God always, I was being a very poor example of what I teach. I had direct access to God’s Positioning System and I wasn’t availing myself of that privilege! So, I began to talk to God and to tell him that the guys were really getting tired, that our water was running low and that the heat was sapping our energy. Of course God knew all that before I told him, but then I added, ‘Lord you know exactly where the path down Llandudno Ravine is hiding, please would you give me just a little inspiration and direction.’ Sure enough, I hadn’t gone very far when I saw it! It had to be the way down, so I called to the guys to ask if I may check out the path I had ‘found.’ Apart from a few calls that we’d already been down that way and that it was the wrong path, most of the guys were too weary to dissuade me. So off I went, full of confidence and, sure enough, it was the way down. Praise God!
Everyone followed and as I thanked God for showing me the path I thought I heard him say, ‘Eric why did it take you so long to ask?’
It was still along way down the ravine and as we made our way along the narrow path against the cliff face (appropriately named Eureka Face on Peter Slingsby’s map) the sun was baking down and with the rocks radiating the heat back at us the temperatures must have reached close to 40 degrees. (Joyce later told me that the temperature in the shade on our verandah in Fish Hoek had reached 32 degrees)
By the time our group arrived back at the cars we had been on the mountain about ten hours while two other of our members, who made their way back via another known and safe route, only got off the mountain about thirteen hours after setting off in the morning. For the last hour walking along the Orange Kloof jeep track in the moonlight, in cell phone contact and with transport waiting for them at Constantia Nek.
Praise God that we’re all safe and a salutary reminder to me that, though I may not own a GPS, I have a relationship with the One who sees
and knows every path and every road and I trust that he will always be my ‘GPS.’
Every blessing in Christ Jesus.
+Eric
16th February 2011
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To all our Celtic Way readers – we pray God’s gracious mercy, grace, love and peace be yours for the year ahead.
The year ahead offers us the opportunity of meeting again at the wonderful Carmel Centre in George over the week of 14th – 19th August. Please click the link to Carmel on our home page for more details regarding costs and facilities. Bishop Eric has begun work on a new set of presentation notes and we will also have the opportunity to hear a bit more about his and Joyce’s Carmino experience.
Our Port Elizabeth contingent might be delighted to know that Bishop Eric and Joyce will be leading a Pentecost mission at St John the Baptist Church, Walmer, from the evening of Sunday 5th June through to Pentecost Sunday on the 12th June 2010. I know that you would be more than welcome to attend. For more details please contact Rob Penrith on 041-5812162 or 083 270 9942.
Sad News: Bev Bailey has just written to ask that we pray for Grahame Main. Bev wrote: Grahame, from St Martin’s, who, together with his wife Val, have been to a few Celtic retreats and were there last year has been diagnosed with a fast-growing brain tumour. Please pray for Grahame and Val and their family in these difficult months.
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My dear fellow pilgrims,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Joyce and I are now safely home after our six day voyage on the Edinburgh from Tristan to Cape Town. The weather was good, the sea calm and we were blessed to share, for those few days, something of the life of Captain Clarence and his large crew who had been fishing for crayfish off Tristan and Gough islands for the past three months. It was remarkable to see the fishermen, taking advantage of the fair weather, firstly to thoroughly clean the ship and then to repaint every part of the superstructure. We docked on Sunday afternoon, which allowed us time to celebrate the Eucharist on board with almost the entire crew, despite having to cope with the ‘Cape rollers.’ My ‘challenge’ to the crew was to show the same care for their respective families when they arrived home as that which we had seen them lavishing on their ship.
‘The old ways’.
I want to begin this Post Tristan Reflection with a quote from a book, ‘Back to Tristan’ by Arne Folkronne. In 1963, Mrs Victoria Glass, when asked in England why she wanted to return to Tristan after having been evacuated from the island two years earlier as a result of the volcanic eruption her reply was; ‘We’ll remain true to the old ways which are typical of the Tristan islanders’
‘And what are they, Mrs Glass?’
‘Why, finding contentment whatever life brings, being friends with one another, knowing we can find happiness only if our neighbours are happy. Our work on the sea and in the fields, sometimes in danger, binds us together and opens our eyes to the little things of the day which makes life worthwhile. Without joy over small things, where is the value of life? We shall not find contentment here in England but just drift on aimlessly. That’s why we must go home – and the sooner the better.’ (Page 139)
The ‘old ways’ which Victoria Glass referred to are of course not simply ‘Tristan ways’ but are deeply Christian ways so I want to highlight some of the points which Victoria made way back in 1963.
1. Contentment. Which is of course what Paul wrote about in his letter to the Philippians. ‘I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances’ and ‘I have learned the secret of being content’ (Philippians 4; 11 & 12) So much of our life can be a striving after that which is not of God and only when we find fulfilment in our lives in Christ Jesus will we find the contentment which Paul and Victoria speak of.
2. ‘Finding happiness only if our neighbours are happy’ and ‘being friends with one another’ Is that not what John was alluding to when he wrote; ‘Dear friends, since God so loved us, we ought also to love one another?’ The Xhosa understanding of ‘ubuntu’ has also helped us to understand that we are bound together in our common humanity and that we will never find happiness without seeking, in Christ Jesus, to bring happiness to those around us.
3. ‘Opens our eyes to the little things’ The final words of St David of Wales to his fellow monks was; ‘Be happy and keep your faith and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do’ (Saints of the Isles by Ray Simpson Page 103) What are those ‘little things’ that Victoria and Saint David speak of? I would like to suggest that they are the ‘little virtues’ that Francis de Sales wrote about in the seventeenth century, namely gentleness, kindness, patience simplicity and mutual regard. I do believe that it is the practice of those ‘little hidden virtues’ that goes a long way to ‘make life worthwhile’ as Victoria wrote and as Jesus exhorted his disciples; ‘……..learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.’ (Matthew 11; 29)
4. ‘Without joy over small things where is the value of life?’ Matthew tells us that the women who not only heard the message of the angel but also met the risen Jesus outside the tomb on that first Easter morning were ‘afraid yet filled with joy’ (Matthew 28; 8 – 9) Joy is a fruit of having encountered the risen Christ and an aspect of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. (Galatians 5;22) Joy not only in the ‘big’ events of our lives but joy in the beauty of a flower, in the smile of a neighbour and the laughter of a child. It is not surprising that Mother Teresa of Calcutta required her Sisters of Charity to be ‘people who smile.’
5. Honouring God. Though Victoria Glass doesn’t mention it in her summary of ‘the old ways’, elsewhere in Arne Falkronne’s book, ‘Back to Tristan’ Willie Repetto, one of the leaders of the Islanders in England said; ‘….. that the lava (in the 1961 volcanic eruption) had stopped half a yard from the farthest house in the settlement cannot be other than God’s work. By this He has shown us that we can and shall return. (Page 25-26) The islanders saw very clearly that God had saved them at the time of the volcanic eruption and that He would therefore protect them on their return and in the years to come. For the people of Tristan God’s hand in saving them at the time of the volcano was something akin to God’s saving act at the Red Sea. How much more are we, who know God’s saving act not only at the Red Sea, in the volcano but supremely in His victory on the cross to honour Him in all that we do. The Psalmist writes; ‘Honour Him for he is your Lord’ (Psalm 45 ; 11) Part of my challenge to the people of St Mary’s Church on our final Sunday on the island was that they never forget or loose sight of the fact that their leaders in 1961 recognised God’s hand in saving them at that time and of their need, and our need, to honour Him.
6. Communion of the Saints. One of the things which struck Joyce and me on the island was the way in which the cemeteries were cared for. Every grave was clearly marked with the details of the deceased, the grass around the graves was trimmed and almost all the graves were bedecked with an array of colourful silk flowers. In addition to the well kept graves we became aware, in speaking to the islanders, of their understanding of ‘the living dead’. The writer to the Hebrews refers to our being surrounded by a ‘great cloud of witnesses’ as we ‘run with perseverance the race marked out for us.’ (Hebrews 12;1) I sense that the islanders somehow have a clearer understanding of the communion of the saints than many of today’s Christians. I do believe that we can learn from them.
I guess that you can understand why Joyce and I were somewhat heart-sore to bid farewell to our sisters and brothers on the Island of Tristan da Cunha after so short a stay.
Let me end with a beautiful and challenging Celtic prayer.
God my Father,
Encouraged by your cloud of witnesses,
Help me to take your Word deep into my soul.
To live it out, bravely, freely, creatively.
To be cheerful when I want to complain
To be patient when I want to flare up
To push on when I want to stand still
To be silent when I want to prattle
To love when I want to harden my heart.
All this I ask in the name of Jesus my Lord.
Ray Simpson (Adapted)
With every blessing in Christ Jesus.
+Eric.
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Joyce and I arrived home this afternoon and were met at the harbour by Tony, Pam and Lynn. They kindly brought us home with the huge amount of frozen fish and crayfish that the islanders had kindly given us and stored in the Edinburg’s freezers for the voyage. We were able to share some of the fish and crayfish with Lynn, Tony and Pam……………Lynn took the accompanying photographs as we were unpacking the fish!! I thought that the photographs may add a light hearted addition to the website. At the moment my head is still going round with the floor coming up to meet me and walking as thought I am still on deck but it’s great to be home. More news later.
Fish and Crayfish for the next decade!
Good fish arrives frozen in Cape Town
Love in Jesus Name,
Eric
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