Advice from a Canyon..or a Vocation Director

Have you ever seen the t-shirts, books or bookmarks bearing the slogan Advice from a ________ (fill in the blank with just about anything in nature)?  They were created by a gentleman named Ilan Shamir who started the Your True Nature company that sells the 'Advice from Nature' products.  You can get advice from bats, blueberries, moose, and wood ducks just to name a few.

I was introduced to these clever slogans a few years back when my  vocation director mentor, Sr. Lupita, showed me some bookmarks she had collected when I was visiting our Tucson monastery.   I happened to run across one this past week that she had given me and this one said Advice from a CANYON.  Having just had the opportunity to hike in a couple of canyons while in Arizona, I took special note of it.

As I read through it, it struck me that if I changed a few words here and there, I could apply it to discernment.  So consider this Advice from a VOCATION DIRECTOR

Instead of Carve Out a Place for Yourself ...  I would say -
Carve out a Place for God

Instead of Aspire to New Plateaus ... I would say -
Aspire to Greater Love

Instead of Stand the Test of Time ...  I would say -
Stand the Test of Time - Discernment doesn't happen overnight

Instead of Don't Get Boxed In ... I would say -
Don't Get Boxed In by Discouraging Voices

Instead of Listen to the Voice of the Wind... I would say -
Listen to the Voice of the Spirit

Instead of It's OK to be a Little Off the Wall ...  Actually, I wouldn't change this one.  Most people think you are a little off the wall if you want to be a nun!  

Instead of Reach Deep... I would just add a couple of words here -
Reach Deep Inside your Soul to find the answers

If you need more advice than that, ask a blueberry or a moose and click here http://www.yourtruenature.com/bookmarks

sightings in the Tucson monastery

I arrived at our monastery in Tuscon, AZ 10 days ago to help host a Come and See weekend for interested discerners.   I am still here enjoying the sunshine and warm weather while I await other sisters from Missouri to fly in for a meeting we will be attending. Meetings have never been something I look forward to...perhaps loathe would be too strong a word...but I offer it all up for the coming of the Kingdom!

I've had ample time to wander around our lovely  monastery and take pictures of our lovely grounds and lovely sisters.  Many sisters have graciously allowed me to take their picture after a little hemming and hawing...after all, who really likes to get their picture taken?  If I'm not careful they will soon be turning and walking the other way when they see me approaching.

I thought I would share some of the sights to be found around our monastery.  Tucson is in the Sonoran Desert which is one of the prettier deserts of our world.  It is not endless sand dunes like the Sahara.  The famous Saguaro Cactus makes its home here.  Cactus do abound on our property but I want to share some 'color' I found in our courtyard.

There is a cool oasis of pansies in our courtyard that delight the eyes.  

Below is a great spot for meditation and lectio divina.

We also have a meditation garden outside of the monastery walls with
typical desert vegetation and a bubbling fountain.

And here are some cactus by our back door...we let God water these...

he does it better than we could.

Finally, one of the loveliest things about Tucson is that it is surrounded by 

mountains on 3 sides. So as I take my daily walk around the grounds I get glimpses

of the Catalina Mtns peering above the oleander bushes and the palo verde trees.   

One of my favorite verses from the Old Testament is from the prophet Hosea where God says, "I will lure her into the desert and speak to her heart."  

God doesn't have to twist my arm to get me to come to our Tucson monastery 

during the winter months!

Ever feel like you are being driven into the 'desert?'

Lent having rolled around again, it's time I start blogging again. The last post was during Lent of 2014.  Where did the year go!!??

I am currently at our lovely monastery in Tucson, AZ.

Front of our monastery and bell tower on chapel

view of Catalina Mountains from the roof deck

We usually host a Come and See weekend in February (which we just finished) and it doesn't take much arm-twisting to get me to spend a few winter days in the Southwest.  When I left Clyde, MO last Thursday it was 2 degrees.  When I stepped off the plane at the Tucson airport it was 75 degrees.

two degrees...seventy-five degrees...which would you choose?

I actually like winter and snow so I CAN enjoy either temperature.

The Gospel reading for the first Sunday of Lent is the bare bones account from the 1st chapter of Mark of Jesus being driven by the Spirit into the desert.  I felt 'driven' by the Spirit to consider a religious vocation all those years ago.  Actually, it was more like the Spirit 'haunting' me than 'driving' me.  But in either case, when one starts to discern a religious vocation, it does feel like you are now in the desert.

It is unfamiliar territory...landmarks are fewer and far between...there is a thirsting for answers but they can be hard to find, just like water in the desert.

Satan can be hanging around also, tempting the poor hapless discerner.

"Don't waste your life on a religious vocation, you won't be very happy."

"You would be wasting your talents in a religious community.  You can do so much more good out in the world."

"You would be much happier married and can you really give up wanting to have children?"

These are all common thoughts that might zoom across our gray matter when we start thinking about a (gulp) religious vocation.  However, all is not lost.  Just as angels ministered to Jesus in the desert, 'angels' appear on the scene to help us.  Angels can appear in the form of a spiritual director, just the right book at the right time or perhaps hearing just the right homily at the right time. Look around for those angels in those times of doubt and confusion.  They might be hanging around the next cactus in your desert...