The Quiet Garden Movement nurtures access to outdoor space for prayer, reflection and rest in a variety of settings, such as private homes, churches, schools and hospitals, and creates opportunities for people to experience silence, restfulness and contemplative practices… Find out more
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Annual Gathering 2019
Pause Newsletter – Pentecost 2019
Exploring silence and nature retreat at Scargill House in North Yorkshire, UK
“The ancient tradition of silent contemplation is as important to the modern mind as it was to those of our forebears – and the Quiet Garden Movement has been facilitating the practice of mindful contemplation for the past 25 years, in gardens across the world…”
“In our day the great danger to the spiritual life is distraction.
May The Quiet Garden Movement lead us into new and creative ways to overcome this danger."
“We live in a world where we are swamped by methods of communication and yet we find ourselves unable to communicate. Silence is the missing and vital ingredient. Even as little as five minutes can be restorative and healing.”
Meditation is such an important part of one's Christian life and so I am delighted that Quiet Gardens now exist in so many places to encourage us towards a more prayerful and thoughtful faith.
In an increasingly busy and noisy world, we often forget the importance of finding stillness and peace during our daily lives. We do not get the opportunity to stop, be still and quiet and spend some time with ourselves and with God. It is in this stillness that we become conscious of God’s love and his action in our lives. The Quiet Garden Movement offers people the space and opportunity to find this peace and time for reflection, away from the distractions and worries of the outside world.
"The natural environment of gardens with their mixture of tending, cultivating and sanctified neglect, are places that draw me into the heart of God. They are places where I can dwell deeply, through being in the slip-stream of prayer, contemplation and renewal, and find life again in all of its abundance. Through the work of the Quiet Garden Movement, I pray that this will also be true for many other people, and I remain grateful to those who open their gardens so that others can slow down and rest in God's abundant love in Jesus."
"If you stand still for a few minutes in the relentless onward rush of 21st century life you might hear a quiet but insistent undercurrent. It is the cry of our hearts for space and time just to be, to listen to the heartbeat of creation, to let our souls catch up. Quiet gardens offer just such longed-for oases of peace. They open up once more what all our busy-ness has buried - the precious gift of heart-time and soul-space."
“A garden can be strong medicine to nurture and shape the soul. Gardens have a way of seeping in to your soul and you find yourself enjoying the air and watching for miracles. In a hurried and distracted world we need garden sanctuaries, places that ground us. We need Quiet Gardens."
"When I walk into our quiet garden I can be distracted by the fact that it is furiously busy with things growing; but I reinterpret it, if I can, as the worship of the Creator by the created. A garden looking quiet to me is actually full of natural sound, the music of creation which is the music that I join in, every time I open my mouth to sing a hymn or to say a prayer. It’s a fundamental principle of going to church. It is a fundamental principle of liturgy that our own services are simply joining in what is already happening which is the worship of all creation of the Creator. So a quiet garden isn’t quiet, it’s full of fabulous noise. "
"The Quiet Garden Movement represents that increasingly vital space in our bewildered culture where our store of peace can be replenished, our creativity can be renewed, and our capacity for joy can be recharged. There is deep wisdom here, and invariably it overflows in love. Do get involved."