Othona

Cliff and I have just come back from our second visit to Othona down on the Dorset coast near Bridport. We first visited last October, and came home knowing that we had to go back. Did I talk about Othona back in October?

Our first encounter with Othona was back in the the early 90's. We were visiting my sister who lived in the Southend area at the time. We decided to go for a Sunday drive out to the Essex coast and ended up visiting a seventh century church, St. Peter's-on-the- Wall. After visiting the chapel, we walked along the beach and came upon the Bradwell Othona. We were invited in for tea and biscuits. I thought then that one day we would make it back there. We didn't but last September when I was looking for a retreat I did come across the Othona in Dorset at Burton Bradstock. If you're wondering, Othona is an open Christian community. At Burton Bradstock, they offer courses and retreats throughout the year. In October we went to the 'Teacher Chill Out' retreat. This last weekend we went to an Easter retreat.

So what's so special about Othona? I imagine that it is different for each person. For me, Othona provides the opportunity to be part of a community. This is so important. I hadn't realized how much I needed to be around people, to share meals, simple tasks, conversation and more. While at Othona, I'm also away from the distractions of life and can do whatever takes my fancy - meditating, reading, walking, writing, craft making. There's also the spiritual side of life and I don't want that to sound like an after thought. It's really the starting point of everything. I have needed to kick start my spiritual life and Othona has provided that initial spark. And finally, it's just a great place to be!