It was a rainy trip up from NJ to the monastery. I opted to skip my traditional drive along the Palisades and just drove the Thruway. The monastery looked quite different arriving in the spring (rather than Autumn or Winter like my previous visits). First, there were the incredible wildflowers all along the driveway and things appeared much more green than in mid-October.
It's also much more quiet... no loud group of youth workers. ;) I guess there will be 6 of us on the Benedictine Experience (a number of people are repeating it), and a couple of individual retreaters - some up for just one night... may have to think about that in the future. So Pilgrim Hall was sparse when Br. Ron gave the orientation.
The monastic choir, however, is almost packed. There are only a few seats up where they sit in chapel and they've added a couple of
Finally, we had our "Welcome" session from the Benedictine Experience... and that's what we talked about, the concept of welcoming the travelers and pilgrims we meet - both how the monks do it and how that concept can apply to our home life and (this was a surprise) our work life as well. Lots of food for thought on that one.
Our schedule for this experience seems to be a slight modification of life at the monastery. Built around the daily office (schedule of worship services) are lessons on prayer, and studying the Rule of St. Benedict, then some time to rest, some time to work and of course the meals.
Looks like fun...
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