February 9, 2014
We just had an adventure.
Of course, adventures are not anything unusual for us.
We had a golf cart that is a Godsend for our guest mistress when she has to take food and cleaning supplies to the retreat house. But unfortunately, it bit the dust. So today, a lovely family of friends brought a replacement, a reconditioned cart with a windshield and the kind of second seat that can fold back to carry loads. They also brought a baby to show us, the fourth generation of those who came. It’s really beautiful so see such an extended family showing off the youngest member. (She was dressed for Valentine’s Day.) We encouraged her to crawl around on our magnificent new chapel carpe I have never seen eyes precisely like hers–a dark blue that edges into black. Mama said they are dad’s eyes. I personally felt that she was advanced beyond her nine months.
The new carpet is such a joy. Its name is “Cracked corn” as I might have mentioned. We spent a week in exile, with books all over the place in the Chapter Room. It was very nice to get back to church, although we are still missing a few things here and there. This is the experience of never having appreciated the common, ordinary joys we take for granted. Our chapel faces the east, and lately we have been treated to the most flamboyant sunrises you can ever imagine.
On February 1st, we have the formal ceremony for Sr Jacqui’s Change of Stability. First of all, you are wondering what monastic Stability means, and also, why it deserves a ceremony. We take five vows, one of which is that of Stability. It means that the sister or monk who profess vows in our Order promises to remain in the community of their profession for life. The value being embraced is obvious: day after day, season after season, mood after mood, we are rooted in the place and the lives of a limited group. We share our journey to God, our liturgical life, our ups and downs and our years of growth with just these people whom the Lord sends and means as vessels of his love. You can’t escape or vary these particular people, this particular field of irritation and joy. You are stretched. Also, you grow into the physical environment God has brought you to. We are a desert monastery. If you are embraced by the seasons of New England or the redwood of California, your surroundings make their way into your mind and heart and draw you into the beauty of God’s eternal wisdom.
Occasionally, some of us are called to a place different from that for which we made our original vow. It doesn’t happen often, but there can be reasons sufficiently important to take you somewhere else, to a different monastery, a different climate and monastic emphasis. In Jacqui’s case, the climate of Wales wrought intense hardship on lungs that need a dry and warm environment, and we are delighted to receive her. She is a sweet and buoyant presence, loving the monastic setting she is now called to and her Santa Rita sisters. She chose as her Mass texts (for the Saturday memorial of Our Lady) “Mary Cause of our Joy.”
I am the community liturgist, and believe me, I need more practice on making booklets with our copier. Perfect copier, never fear, just imperfect liturgist.
Now and then our friend Christina Wilhelm and her exquisite musical programs use our chapel as a venue for a concert, and we get to go. A few weeks ago, the Santa Cruz players were doing something for the National Geographic, and we were again privileged. She has developed something so creative you can only wonder at her ingenuity. Instead of particular venues, she moves the concert in what she calls a “Concert Haul”–a large, well-equipped sort of bus. Santa Cruz county and environs are truly blessed with Christina’s energy, talent, and ingenuity. The ambience of a monastery can sometimes suit the program, and its audience is pleased to be with us.