Westward Ho!

I had the wonderful experience of traveling to the Pacific Northwest the first week in October to attend a Benedictine vocation director's meeting.  It was held at Queen of Angels Monastery in Mt. Angel, Oregon which is in the lovely Willamette Valley - the destination of wagon trains back in the 1840's and 50's.  I had never been to Oregon or Washington so I was glad to have the opportunity to see this magnificent part of our country.

Our congregation is a 'sister' monastery to the Benedictine women at Mt. Angel.  Five sisters arrived in Maryville, Missouri from Maria Rickenbach, Switzerland back in 1874 to start a new foundation.  In 1876, a few more sisters arrived from Switzerland to help the new foundation. Sr. Bernardine Wachter was in this group and in 1882, left for Oregon to start a new foundation that would become the current Queen of Angels Monastery.   It seems the fledgling foundation in Missouri had a lot of women with differing opinions on how the community should live out its Benedictine charism in America which eventually led to a foundation in South Dakota and Arkansas as well as Oregon.  God used all things to spread the Benedictine charism in the U.S.!

They have this lovely redwood sequoia smack dab in the front of their monastery.  According to the story, a sister back in 1893 found a little sapling next to some nearby railroad tracks and planted it there not knowing what kind of tree it was.  




Of course one lesson from this is - be careful what kind of 'seeds' you plant.  Another is - take delight in the surprises God gives us when we plant 'seeds' in reckless abandon.  If they are meant to be, they will take root.  If not, nothing ventured, nothing gained!

I was also able to spend a few vacation days up at Mt. Hood after our meeting.  I was warned it rains a lot in Oregon and therefore was prepared with the proper jacket, boots, etc.  I was hoping God would take pity on me, though, and dispense the clouds enough to let me see the actual summit of Mt. Hood since I had travelled all the way to Oregon...I've seen it in calendar pictures after all.  And besides, God knows I love mountains!   Well Day 1 was this... 

Day 2 was rain in copious amounts...

However, Day 3 was this!!!!!....at least part of the time.

It became this before long...yes, the summit IS right there just above that snowy ridge. 

It's not unlike getting glimpses of the 'summit' in our spiritual life or discernment journey.  Is it not wonderful when the clouds part and THERE IT IS?!  God seems so near, so close, so beautiful.  And then, the ceiling lowers, visibility is reduced to 10 ft and nothing is familiar.  

However, all that rain in Oregon molds the beauty that is there, even if you only get glimpses of it now and then.  I mean, how many times have you seen ferns growing up the side of a tree?  Unless a lot of rain falls, that isn't going to happen.   I think it is God's gift to us when He lets us see the goal, the summit of our life in Him.  But we can't stay there, the beauty is too overwhelming in this life.  So I will be content to slog around on the forest floor until the next great 'lifting.'  There is plenty of beauty to see here...