We recently explored the grand, yet lesser known, abbey of Selby…
A mighty ancient site, dating back to 1069.
As my foot crossed over the stone threshold, I could instantly feel the amount of prayer and worship that had been devoted into this building over the many years that it had stood. Stood in the entrance way, we could envision the monks and the volume of people that would visit this space.
An echo of a memory.
As our visit was a last minute spontaneous visit, we decided to proceed through the main part of the abbey, past the wandering visitors, continuing past the smaller cafe area, containing the usual abbey folk sharing their daily gossip.
We carried on until we reached the far side of the abbey, where there was nobody else present, only the faces looking down at us from the grand stained glass windows, and the eyes of stone from the statues. At this point, as we felt the silent peace of the abbey surround us, Jon stepped towards the altar and began to sing his praise to the spirit present, for God our creator, and for the love of singing in a divine space.
The abbeys high ceilings and perfectly crafted walls began to join in with Jon’s song, offering a deep reverberating resonance, which not only filled the space that we occupied, but spread out along the corridor, until it echoed the entirety of the abbey itself. The Gregorian sounds of Hallelujah filled this ancient space, and with it, I felt the monks of old nodding in, not just approval, but gratitude. Giving their blessing that this marvellous abbey was being worshipped organically as it should be.
As we made our way back towards the entrance way, filled with that warm feeling of connection, it was then that we were approached by a very disgruntled lady. Apparently, we had caused quite a stir with some of the older members in the cafe, who was under the impression that we were shouting in Arabic, and therefore must have been terrorists. As I heard this, my first thought was one of pity. How can it be, not only that the sound of Hallelujah, which was actually written on their altar, of been miss-interpreted as an Arabic cry of terror, but that there was a small group in the abbey who was immediately filled with fear and terror, even in this pure space of God? Is this the work of our media and the news, embedding fear into our daily lives?
After assuring who turned out to be the “churchwarden”, that in future we would announce any song that we felt lead to sing, naturally, we headed to the door. It was then that we were approached by a couple who also take an active part in the running of the abbey, and who went on to offer their heart felt apologies for the way that we were treated. They assured us that the vicar would of been most displeased with the reaction of the churchwarden, and went on to offer their compliments to the short song.
This was an interesting combination of connection and then almost conflict, in a sacred space, on a spontaneous venture. The Abbey truly is a beautiful space, and I would recommend visiting it, should an opportunity arrive. However, following this experience, I was left wondering about the general state of the people of our beautiful land. Is it that fear has made its way into many minds, surely now we should come together in the spirit of our land, sing its praises and give thanks for life. What do you think?
We hope you enjoy the short clip captured, apologies for the poor quality, it was recorded on a smartphone which has seen better days!
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Blessings
Emily
