Waterden, All Saints: Silence Within

During what was a, 'warm hug of a day', we decided to finish our excursion with a trip to Waterden, All Saints, near Walsingham. Through the deep lanes of this sacred landscape we wended our way. We discussed the value of journeying together; travelling alongside others with whom you are comfortable is a fine thing to do. Journeying towards a special place with a well-trod path leading a short way towards some verdant trees is a fine thing to do. 

Upon arrival, the humble, squat church of Waterden reveals itself within a glade of a graveyard. Anticipation, as we open the solid ancient oak door that looks like a slab of burnt toffee. Inside, the simplest of interiors: honey-coloured box pews and rough-hewn roof timbers. Walls white, washed with sunlight - there is a serenity within. 

We journeyed here with a purpose. We had resolved to sit together for half-an-hour in silence and Waterden felt like the perfect place to experience this. I had brought my singing bowl in order to transition into our' silence through the calming resonance of the bowl...

Singing Bowl

As the sound receded, each of us sat in our respective places: two, within pews either side of the aisle - the third, upon a chair placed within the chancel. 

With my eyes closed, as the silence ensued, I experienced some busy beta brainwave thoughts and worries that flickered across my consciousness. Having practiced meditation for a while now, I reminded myself that these are simply thoughts and decided to deepen and slow my breathing in order to encourage a more relaxed state of being. Thoughts continued to flutter by, but my relationship to them felt altered and mine was the perspective of a detached observer. I became aware of some tension in my thighs and shoulders - the legacy of a busy working week no doubt. However, as time flowed through me, with slow, steady, deep breaths I felt more comfortable within my body. Within this state of being, I may have been experiencing theta brainwaves associated with deep relaxation. 

I opened my eyes, and looked across at the simple pulpit. Whereas, after this silence I reflected upon the irony of a silent stare upon an artefact intrinsically created to proclaim the Word/words, during it I gazed detachedly... I could hear the buzzing of distant insect wing-beats. I savoured the beauty of the light as it played across a Hymn Board, that afterwards I noted, had the letters 'Ps' inserted into one corner.

But this is to dwell on 'outwardness'. What of my interior journey? Ever since a moment epiphany a couple of years ago, when - due to a series of good choices on my part - a deep wound from my childhood resolved in a healing moment that felt miraculous to me, I have been experimenting with looking inwards. At the start of this journey, I often felt very unsettled and 'lost'. That is not surprising as - looking back - for most of my life I had been busying myself, never stopping, for fear of what I might find. I realise now that I was deeply fearful of being alone with myself. However, with practice and work, I have found the inward path deeply rewarding. I can be with myself and the sky doesn't fall in. Within my voluminous lived-in head, I am able to sit comfortably with the complicated, fallible me. I have survived much hurt and trauma during my earlier years; it is time now - at last! - to thrive. Within Waterden Church I gave myself Love. Together, we gave ourselves and each other Love. The thirty minutes of human time passed, then we blinked ourselves back into the day...

Afterwards, we three friends discussed our experience of the silence. Each of us shared that we emerged from it with a feeling of peace and stillness that was simply beautiful. 

Our friend on the chair in the chancel is nineteen years old. At that age I would have refused to enter a church, let alone sit in silence within one. It pleases me greatly, as an elder, to see a young man arriving at such a great place so early in his journey. 

Beautiful heritage spaces can be experienced and inspirational in so many different ways. They are often 'Psychologically Informed Environments' that have a positive (sometimes, subliminal) effects upon us - if we are receptive to them. I try and experience them with openess and a growth mindset, and these encounters - my wanderings - continue to enrich me in so many wonderful ways. 

The view west of Waterden Church (from an earlier visit - July 2022)

The Fallible Flâneur <*(((((><{