It was a year ago...

It is hard to believe, but I first visited Ripon College Cuddesdon a year ago. Little did I really know that one year later I would be at college having experienced a Bishop's Advisory Panel. It all started .. well, no it started a long time before, but I took it seriously after a dream and a promise from God to take my somewhere beautiful yet frightening. I feel I have been through all those experiences already, and I am certainly somewhere beautiful now.

My diary entry for the two days is somewhat revealing about the pattern of college here at Cuddesdon.

12.00: Meet at reception
1.00: Lunch
4.00: Tea
5.15: College Eucharist
6.00: Dinner

7.30: Morning Prayer
8.30: Breakfast

Of course, we ended up doing far more than that, having interviews with both Martyn Percy and Michael Lakey, meeting students and being shown round the college.

More revealing is my journal entry (written a week later, when we were on holiday in Tuscany). It reads

A week ago we went, as a whole family, to Ripon College in Cuddesdon. It was to have a look around the college. I felt at home. I could have stayed there - I would go back now, it felt right. The people, the building, the place. Even (!) the worship felt good..... Visiting made it feel real, but also made the barriers feel real. We have a number of hoops to jump through - God willing.

 (Interesting notes from the same journal entry, I have recalled our meal we had that night - steak from a Tuscan butchers, fresh figs, grapes and plums, and Italian Ice Cream. The next day we went to Assisi - a fantastic day.)