Is there a perspective to be found amid all this confusion? How can we best respond and use our talents when it feels like the ground keeps shifting under us? These are questions I keep pondering, and I'd like to share the best insights I can find.

     It takes courage to seek a perspective on the state of the world these days: best done in small doses, and with help. One valuable source is Rudolf Steiner, who a century ago foresaw all this. He writes: "Men speak of good and evil, but they do not know that it is necessary in the great plan that evil, too, should come to its peak, in order that those who have to overcome it should so use their force that a still great good results from it." Read more

I'm guessing that this theme will resonate with many of you as it does with me. We are having to cope with a climate that has become much more abrasive: and I'm referring not only to the weather, but to politics and plenty more. And it won't get better anytime soon.

     Taking care of ourselves is the best antidote – both individually, and in groups. So this blog is an exploration of what this could mean in practice. Read more

A Sufi Garden: Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace

Wednesday, February 4, 7.30-9pm

This evening is an invitation to reconnect with peace within us, to renew divine presence in our hearts and through this to discern what is ours to do in these stormy times. As part of this we will dance and meditate with the beautiful prayer Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace which was inspired by Saint Francis, and explore how to grow peace within us and around us through our usual mix of dance, chant and embodied spiritual practices.This session is led by Alan Heeks and Karim Hadden - see details here.

One of my big life-changing experiences was co-leading a dozen retreats in the Tunisian Sahara with Bedouin guides. They had grown up as true nomads, moving around the desert with their camels and goats, but now living mostly in a town because many desert wells had dried up.

     Our Bedouin guides had few material resources, little control over their situation, yet were living happily with huge levels of uncertainty. I regard them, and nomads generally, as a really valuable lead indicator for all of us, as we face rising disruption and less control on many fronts. In this blog, I offer my pointers to what we can learn from the nomad way of living. Read more