St Agatha

Friday 5th February, 2021

It has rained all day. I did a quick dash to the post box with three letters and intended to get a walk as soon as the rain let up. But it has not let up at all and has been miserable. So I stayed indoors otherwise and read and pondered and puzzled as is my wont. I was helped by the arrival of two letters. The one I loved was all about the mystery of growing old, hanging on to faith, the place of doubt in our lives and the way to contain and use and face suffering. My correspondent lost a son. He was educated by monks and has a respect for the power of prayer and spiritual vocation. He also has a business which has had to shut down in the present climate and may never open, so a life's work and a family home are threatened. There are other challenges in the family but as he says " no worse, no better than others. Humanity suffers and that is a fact and with all facts we face them and see how to live fully with them". Strangely I had some remarkable insights and thoughts on that during the night. Yes, life is full of suffering and the way of the Buddha and Jesus is to put that in to its real context and to dissolve it. I am puzzling these thoughts still and hope to clarify them over the days to come.

Interestingly this afternoon I came across the film "Finding Neverland" about the play Peter Pan and the life of J.M. Barrie and the family who inspired the play. I have seen the little white cottage at Kirriemuir, up here in Angus, where Barrie was born. I have read some of his life's story concerning the death of his elder brother and his Mother's consequent withdrawal from life. The film came across so well and emphasised the place of imagination and truth in our lives. Is a dog just a dog? Is death really death or just another way of life, another dimension? Strangely this fitted in so well with the questions rising from my reading of 'In love with the World' by a Buddhist monk.

So the day has not been wasted. In fact it has urged me to sit in silence and to allow the monkey in the mind to do its thing which is not nothing but emptiness. What a world there is beyond our own and in the imagining and even, as St. Paul notes, beyond our imagining. We can touch it, feel it, note it and search for it and see where that leads.

More down to earth was the fact that my landlady had her jab today. A precise time of 3.04pm was given and the whole process was efficient and kindly. Also I have received my letter for 12.16 on Saturday 13th. Even more down to earth was the making by the Landlady's daughter a recipe for Russian pancakes gleaned from a Virtualtrip to Moscow. Lots of cottage cheese, cream and fruits...and very tasty.

Today is the feast day of St Agatha patron saint of many causes. When the name Agatha is mentioned I always think of the extraordinary time I spent with Agatha Christie over a 36 hour period over 55 years ago. Now she was someone who excited my imagination. I recall her wit and the marvellous remark she once made on being interviewed. The interviewer said that he realised she held strong views on marriage. " Have you ever thought of divorce?" He asked. "No," came the immediate reply " but of murder often". What plot or scenarios are we uncovering as we go through life? Are they real or figments of the imagination? It is such fun having a rainy day as one can go AWOL in the mind and imagination and beyond.