This morning started off with good coffee! The coffee at the hostel we stayed at in Belfast left a bit to be desired. Breakfast is a continental breakfast, eaten communally and we are encouraged not to sit with the same people at each meal time, but to connect with the many volunteers and staff who are on site at Corrymeela during the day. A singing bowl is struck part-way through the meal and we stop in silence to give thanks for the food and those who have grown it and prepared it. We are also encouraged to offer to help with the dishes.

Our first session today was with Rachel Craig, who got us out of our brains and into our bodies, I am not going to say too much more about that as I plan to use some of what I experienced with my congregations on a Sunday morning and don’t want to give it away! Plus, I’m afraid that they might skip worship if they knew.

We then had a session from Denise Bradley, staff person for marginalization. And how trauma undergirds her work. That was much more head oriented.

Lunch and then a trip to the Giants Causeway, a World Heritage Site. We were given a hand held audio device that we could listen to information at various places along the trails. In 2017, they welcomed 1 MILLION visitors. And that’s just the ones that paid the fee; if you don’t want the audio device or to go into the gift shop or cafe, you can walk the site at no charge. I spoke with one of the guides who said that today was the slowest day in months. My only complaint, I wanted more time!

This evening was a bit of debriefing how things were going with our leaders, Martha Martin and Diana Ginn and some preparation for tomorrows visit to Derry/Londonderry.  And so the light fades on another day at Corrymeela.