Taking the long view
Tue 06 September 2016
Sarah writes
We love to get a glimpse of Sheldon from a different perspective. Every day we’re down here dealing with the everyday stuff and then thanks to the technologies of flight and photography we are given a startlingly different perspective. This one was taken in August and you can see that we could do with a drop of rain!
I’ve spoken recently with several guests making return visits to Sheldon, sometimes coming back in happier times, sometimes in sad ones, sometimes on regular retreat. Either way, a retreat often spontaneously triggers the comparison of ‘how I am now’ compared with ‘how I was then’. Would it be just too corny to dig out an historic aerial photo of Sheldon? Yes, but I shall treat you to one even so.
Sometimes it’s reassuring to see that we’re in solid shape, maybe grown a bit, or perhaps by taking a different perspective we notice for the first time that we’ve become a bit parched?
Whatever the difficult stuff of today, it can be a useful exercise to ‘helicopter up’ and see it from a perspective that is wider than my usual viewpoint, or maybe places now in the context of the past and the future.
For a bit of fun you can try the ‘spot the difference’ game – put them in the comments below along with a guess of the year the archive photo was taken.
Spot the differences!
Alison Mathalone - Sep 13, 2016
First came to Sheldon about 2008 so looked in "The Fat Pigeon Flies" and see that the animal barn was built in 1994 so the old photo must have been taken before that..........I to am feeling a bit parched and in need of my visit to Sheldon in about two weeks time.....to climb through Yonder Wood and sit in Dingley Dell......early morning in the quiet of the Chapel and hearing footsteps as others arrive to be in that special place together.....what better way to start a new day and a new beginning
Jennifer Collins - Sep 12, 2016
Thank you forgiving us the opportunity to look at things from a different perspective. Helpful to reflect. Things have changed. Our family have had a tough few years( and may get tougher ). To look at the bigger picture is helpful. We must keep facing the sun and keep our backs to the shadow. Pray for us please.
Diane Harrison - Sep 07, 2016
1990?
Helen Pegg - Sep 07, 2016
Sarah
That was inspired. To "helicopter up" and see things differently really helped me this evening