Circuit Quiet Day
Circuit Quiet Day
It was a crisp sunny day that greeted us for our annual Circuit Quiet Day on the Saturday 26th February, the Saturday before Lent. This was the latest in a series of Quiet Days which stretch back to 2014. Broken last year by the restrictions of the pandemic. So it was a double pleasure to be able to gather together again.
These are always excellent days giving us a chance for us to pause and reflect ahead of the season of Lent.
The day was led by the Revd Dr Megan Daffern. Megan is a Tutor and Bye-Fellow at Lucy Cavendish College, Cambridge University, and teaches Hebrew and Old Testament; she balances her pastoral and teaching commitments with her own research in the Psalms and Hebrew Bible. Her doctorate was on “The Psalms: Prayers for Remembering”.
Her book “Songs of the Spirit: A Psalm a Day for Lent and Easter” was published as one of SPCK’s Lent Books 2018. I have a copy of the book and would highly recommend it to you. For Lenten study or for more general devotional use exploring the Psalms.
The day started with a time of worship together led by Rev Rosemary Fletcher based on the Morning Prayers of the Northumbrian Community.
Megan then led us through three sessions during the day. Each section taking a Psalm using her own translations and reflections on it to guide us in our own reflections. After these introductions we were free to explore the ideas and thoughts which had come to us during the session or in reading the Psalm. Some 
walked in the beautiful grounds of St Stephen’s which were glorious in the Spring sunshine with flowers bursting into life throughout the church yard. Others chose to sit and reflect, to draw pictures or write as they felt drawn.
From my own perspective I took the time to re-read the psalm in both Megan’s translation and from the New International Version and then set to starting to write some hymn words of my own to try to “capture” the essence of the Psalms as they spoke to me.
The three Psalms we immersed ourselves in were 34, 31 and136. Megan read the Psalm and then shared some of the reasons for the words she had chosen for her translation, together with some very helpful insights she has herself gleaned from her study of the Psalms.
We gathered for lunch and shared fellowship together or once again walked in the grounds to continue our reflections. Rosemary drew our attention to the magnificent Cedar of Lebanon tree in the grounds which is pictured.
Rosemary closed the day with a time of worship using the evening prayers from the Northumbrian Community.
It really was a most enjoyable day and I would encourage those of you who have not attended a Quiet Day in the past to get the date in your diary for next year and join us if you are able.
Thus, a date for your 2023 diaries – Saturday 18th February 2023 when the new Dean of the Cathedral has been invited to take the annual Quiet Day.
