Imbolc Waning Cold Moon
Ancientrails hits the road again this afternoon for sunny eastern South Dakota, high above the plains. There I will reside, for three nights, in a local instance of a 1,300 year plus institution, the Benedictine Monks of the Roman Catholic Church. It’s interesting to me that the international website for the Benedictines has St. John’s in Collegeville as its host. I have always found the monastic or even the hermetic life appealing which is why I eventually made my peace with Andover and its relative seclusion.
The quiet, contemplative atmosphere encouraged by monastics the world around and in various faith traditions serves a calm heart to a frenzied world, a place to which we can retire if we need. I’ve had a long stretch with no regular contemplative or meditative practice, this weekend I plan to enter a new phase, one appropriate to this time in my life.
Aging itself requires a contemplative spirit, an accepting spirit for the challenges that it holds include the inevitable and long shunned confrontation with death. (Ironic note: In the midst of this thought I got a robo-call from Congress Michele Bachman which I allowed to trigger upset.)
Kate and I need to check our answers for Chapter 2 right now. Back at ya.