Companions for the Journey - Part 3

This quiet monastery that I've experienced so far is suddenly a bustling place. The weekend groups have arrived. We have a bunch of women from a church in Brooklyn, a church vestry group, a group of friends from New York who call themselves "Serenity Seekers" - who seem to exist just to visit this place twice a year - and a few other individual retreaters.

The diversity of guests is incredible. Joining me on this journey for the weekend are men & women... black, white, hispanic & asian... several different religions - some even "creative spiritual but not religious" types... one is just a screenwriter here quiet to complete a work that starts filming in December... Heck, I'm sure there are probably both straight and gay here as well although I didn't ask or tell.

As we were all waiting (some more patiently than others) for dinner, I came across the sister who's here on the silent retreat. She seemed overwhelmed by having to whisper that she's on retreat and can't talk to everyone who tried to start a conversation with her. I smiled at her and (I'm not sure I should share this) we whispered a conversation where I found out she's with a convent in Manhattan and up here for a one week silent retreat. I told her I hoped I wasn't spoiling it for her and she whispered that she's starting to get ready to come out of it - which I took to mean she's bursting at the seams to talk to someone after a week. So there you have it, you can add "corrupter of nuns" to my list of accomplishments for the week. We agreed to share some contact information (written of course) at breakfast tomorrow.

After dinner we had a "guest orientation meeting" in pilgrim hall (the main lounge). It's funny, when there were just a few of us, we didn't need orienting - perhaps the weekend crowd is more boisterous than the ones that come during the week. For example, it's 10:00 - well into "the great silence" - and the serenity seekers are not being very serene next door. But then again, I'm typing very loudly too... it's going to be an interesting weekend.