Abide in Love – Quiet Day

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May arrives in fullness. Light lingers. Gardens lean toward abundance.
In a season that urges us to grow and to do, this Quiet Day offers a softer invitation: to abide. Drawing on the words of Jesus — "Abide in my love" (John 15) — we will explore what it means to remain rooted rather than restless, receptive rather than driven.
Led by our Rydal Chaplain, Rev LB, the day will unfold gently, with simple creative practices: perhaps holding a small branch as we pray, noticing the hidden life within it; perhaps writing a brief "rule of abiding" for the months ahead; perhaps sitting quietly beside water, allowing its steady presence to teach us something about constancy.
The Middle Eastern scholar Kenneth E. Bailey reminds us that in the world of Jesus, a vine lives only in utter dependence on the gardener. To "abide" is not passive withdrawal, but active, trusting attachment — a daily choosing to remain in the life of God.
Among blossom and unfolding leaves, we will reflect on the difference between fruitfulness and busyness, between striving and staying. There will be guided meditation, unhurried silence, and space to consider the quiet "yes" that shapes a faithful life.
In the stillness of Rydal's beauty, may we discover again that growth begins in remaining — and that love, patiently received, bears its own gentle fruit.