Mucknell metaphors

In today's Gospel we heard Jesus say to the criminal from the cross: "today you will be with me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43; NRSV). Having spent some time wandering around the grounds in the sun on Friday, the verse spoke to me of Mucknell as an earthly paradise and of the 'today' of being with Christ. Other metaphors have already been used of Mucknell. Stuart has described Mucknell as a 'thin place', which has become meaningful to the men working on the site for up to a year. Also, one possible meaning of the name is 'hill with a big (muckle) view'. At our blessing in on 1 November, we had the reading from Matthew: "A city built on a hill cannot be hid" (Matt 5.14; NRSV). Well, we are built on a hill, and we cannot be hid, but we need to work out what that means in practice. 

This week it is my turn in the laundry, where I hopefully cannot do any damage, and which brings back memories. It is down in the basement, but still with lovely views over the cut and beyond. The basement corridor gets quite warm, and I found a painted lady butterfly sheltering from the falling temperatures outside, which reminds me of another metaphor... The community described their time at Broad Marston as being in a chrysalis, preparing for a new creation to emerge at Mucknell. It takes time for the butterfly to emerge and dry in the sun, before it can spread its wings; we are very much still emerging.