A spiritual home for the lamb

PeaceBang told a little story of a little lamb (“A lamb of the stage“) that swaps its future as dinner for the easy life on a farm. (Not that I’m opposed to eating a little lamb at Easter. Or a little goat. Both are delicious, and sometimes hard to tell apart.)

But when I read the sheeplet’s new name — Little Compton — I mistook the coastal retreat for the famous religious community, and now sometime spiritual retreat, Little Gidding. Founded by Nicholas Ferrar in 16 and lasting until the Commonwealth, it was a community of prayer and service to children. A prototypical Protestant “family monastery” it seems. Even after the community was broken up (courtesy the Puritans) the church it met in remained and still has worship a few times a year.

Alas, the parish website was taken over by a less than ecclesiastic entity, but it was made famous by a poem, excerpted below. Is part of it familiar?

Quick now, here, now, always–
A condition of complete simplicity
(Costing not less than everything)
And all shall be well and
All manner of things shall be well

From T.S. Eliot’s “Little Gidding” in the Four Quatrains.

Published
Categorized as Saints

By Scott Wells

Scott Wells, 46, is a Universalist Christian minister doing Universalist theology and church administration hacks in Washington, D.C.

2 comments

  1. Scott – drop me a line or give me a call if you want some help migrating the UUCF content from the UUA site to the new site. I’d be happy to help if I can.

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