Fill Your Hands with the Mud, like a Blessing

26-29 Apr 2012 (Thurs-Sun p.m.)

When the poet Mary Oliver asks us to “fill our hands with mud, like a blessing”, she highlights the sense we have of the ordinary world being suffused with extraordinary wonder. Over the course of the weekend we will range widely, using a variety of sources, including poetry by Marge Piercy, the mystical prose of Simone Weil and our own personal experiences, to explore this theme. Jennie Barnsley and Roy Bayfield have been working since the 1990s with the Appleseed method of gentle, creative self-discovery. It uses a combination of talks, kindergarten-simple arts-based response activities (requiring no previous experience whatsoever!) and worship sharing as a framework for spiritual and personal exploration. Jennie and Roy have devised and delivered Appleseed courses in a range of Quaker, church, education and community settings.