Attention & Contemplation ....by Sr. Raphaela
One of the required components of our blog is to furnish pictures to go with our posts. Sometimes I have the photos in mind when I write my post and sometimes, I go looking for some of my photos that might enhance my post. Capturing images is an intimate engagement with the external world for me. I bought my first digital camera not because I was interested in photography but because I was curious about how I saw beauty.
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Why oh why? Y, indeed ....by Sr. Monika
Human beings like to ask, “Why?” Why did that earthquake happen? Why does it rain so much in the Pacific Northwest? Why do people have to suffer? “Why?” can be a rather useless, unhelpful question. Many times it simply cannot be answered. Frustrating. Now, “Y’s” are everywhere to be seen. Y’s are in trees, bushes and architecture. Once you start looking for them, you will see thousands of Y’s around you.
Patterns, Patterns Everywhere --by Sr. Monika
Y-shape in trees Wondrous patterns surround us. The spiral is found in any garden and in the heavens. The Y shape is in every tree and bush and in many other places. If our eyes are accostomed to looking for them the curve, the straight line, and the orb are easily recognized. Missouri orb spider's giant web My life in art is about patterns.
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My Time in Jail--er, Isolation
I had intended to talk about my preparations for my First Monastic Profession in this post, but some fortuitous events changed my topic. This is the story. On Thursday, June 15, I felt a little tickle in my throat after Mass. After that I read on our community bulletin board that one retreatant tested positive for COVID and was in the hospital—for other medical reasons. Anyway, I decided to be very cautious and take a COVID test.
The Contemplation Pond: The Space that brings our questions to life
For the past few weeks, the focus of my contemplation has been on silence. Silence has its own chapter in the Rule of Benedict, chapter 6. The word silence in the Rule is interpreted to mean “to refrain from speech” or to be silent. Many of us have places around the monastery that may engender in us a contemplative inner quiet. My own cell is this space for me.
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