A Friend named Jill

Direct your Church, O Lord, into the beauty of holiness, that, following the good example of your servant Dunstan, we may honor your Son Jesus Christ with our lips and in our lives; to the glory of his Name, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

On this day in the church year, we remember Dunstan, Archbishop of Canterbury from 960 - 988 and known especially for the revival of monasticism and spirituality to the Church of England. Dunstan and his pupils have been described “contemplatives in action”—bringing the fruits of their monastic prayer life to the immediate concerns of church and state.

Listening to Forward Day by Day today, I was reminded about Dunstan and immediately thought of an old friend named Jill Dunstan whom I knew when I lived in Cornwall. Jill and I went to primary school together, and we were in Girl Guides together. One time when I spent the night on Jill's family's farm, I woke up to the most wonderful smell I thought I had ever smelled and discovered it was real butter melting on the top on the AGA in preparation for fried eggs! Jill's parents were real Cornish farmers, and I loved being in their old stone house on their beautiful farm.

To earn a Girl Guide badge that had something to do with living off the land, Jill and I decided to spend the night at her house and catch and cook our meal. And so we set out on a Saturday afternoon with a slingshot and a lot of willpower. We went way out into one of the pastures, laid a fire and then took off in search of dinner! Believe it or not we were able to "shoot" a rabbit, skin it and cook it. I don't remember if we camped out or not, just that we accomplished what we set out to do and...the stillness of being out in nature, catching our own food and cooking it ourselves...we were only about 10! I didn't even know the term "beauty of holiness" but in retrospect that was probably what I felt. Living off the land, savoring Creation... all part of a pilgrim's journey.