Once, an Abbess was asked how many nuns she had in her monastery, and she replied, “Fourteen; and each one is a universe.”
In his famous autobiography, “The Seven Storey Mountain,” Thomas Merton wrote:
“The life of each (monk) in this abbey is part of a mystery. We all add up to something far beyond ourselves (p.418).”
As today’s photo shows, the largest of our several looms is now set up, ready to produce a rug when one of the brothers starts weaving. Like the warp and woof of a tapestry, our interacting with others is part of creating who were and who we are becoming.
Life is a mystery to be lived, not a problem to be solved, as a popular poster-saying expressed it many decades ago. The point is still valid, as we continue our journey, under God’s care, eventually exchanging time for eternity.
May our participation in the mystery of belonging to God’s family be something that we willingly take up each day, like a weaver creating a tapestry.
Abbot Christian and the monks
