It is 8 am here on a sunny morning. There are clouds, so I’m making the most of it while it lasts. For some reason I was up at six. Anyone would think there are things to do, and stuff on my mind…

Another day of sewing, then down to other work. My fingers ache, my arms hurt, and anyone except a masseur going near my shoulders will get bitten… but there is a huge satisfaction in approaching completion. Especially as the hours march onwards towards the two major events of the week… Heathrow and Great Hucklow.

My mind is as busy as my hands, diving off at random tangents as I work, making mental lists and notes and pondering deep questions. Coffee breaks are a brief time at the computer answering emails, writing and reading… even I can’t type with a handful of toast. Or at least, not efficiently. And the crumbs are not good for the keyboard. (Hope you are listening, Big Bear).

When I switched on the computer at six, the inbox was full again. But amongst the many were a few that were special and started my day in beauty and warmth.

After walking Ani and during the second coffee I read other things. Three poems came to me, one way or another this morning. One a perfect expression of love for God. The second a deeply beautiful image of the human heart at its highest and a timeless love. The third a journey down a path I too have taken poetically.

The first touches my soul as a kindred spirit, penned by a sister of the heart, the second touched my heart and brought tears at its beauty. The third set me thinking and wandering down odd roads again. All three expressed Love in their own way, from the human to the divine… and after all, is there any difference, except perhaps in degree? It is, I think, only through Love that we feel the touch of divinity in our hearts and as humans it is through Love we reach out to each other, and to that something, greater than we, by whatever name we know It. As Ela says in the third poem, perhaps, like us, It too waits to be filled, needing only our Knowing.

I have a feeling this train of thought will occupy my mind as I sew this morning.

We are now on the home stretch, of course. Friday sees the launch of the Silent Eye. Our companions in this adventure prepare to fly, drive or sail across the world to be with us and that, in itself, is a profound and wonderful gift that touches my heart in extraordinary ways. Can you imagine how truly, deeply beautiful and awe inspiring it is to know how many thousands and thousands of miles are being covered by those who choose to stand with us at this dawning?

There are others who will be with us too, in thought and heart. Some new friends, some who have walked with us a very long time. These we will carry in our own hearts as we bring the School to birth and their presence in love and Light will hold us as gently as their smiles.

Although the weekend will be full and busy, I will try to share it as we go. Much will be happening. As the day draws inexorably closer our attention and our thoughts are, in spite of the preoccupation of our hands, turned from the surfaces of preparation to the depths of what we do and why. We are increasingly aware of the current that carries us and into which we have plunged with our whole being.

We will begin at 18.00 British time on the Friday evening. The birth of the School itself will take place at dawn on the hillside on the Sunday morning in near silence. For some of us, the morning will start in silent meditation and vigil at four am. Join us in thought, if you will, hold the symbolic image of the dawning sun in your heart for us as we turn towards its Light and share the silence as we set out on a journey born of Love.

For here it begins.