For some weeks now, we have had a fledgling robin residing in our cloister garden. While that is not particularly unusual in itself, what is unusual in this case is that the bird can’t fly! It simply hops along the lawn of our garden or hides amid the flowers. No fuss, no muss, just a quiet presence in our midst. The bird almost embodies the monastic saying: the goal is not speed, but silence.
Fittingly enough, the robin has been dubbed “Rob” by a number of the monks. It demonstrates little or no fear of us its hosts, and doesn’t mind being photographed.
There is a lesson here for everyone. What lesson can you draw from the young robin on our lawn?
Abbot Christian and the monks