Day 34

Saturday, May 9, 2015

The Abbey of Gethsemani

One of my goals during my sabbatical was to spend one on one time with each of my nieces and nephews.  I wrote each of them and asked them if they would like to do something special with me and if so, what would that be.  Rebecca chose to come on retreat the last weekend I was at Gethsemani.  She loves the writings of Thomas Merton.

Rebecca lives in Richmond, KY.  (About 2 hours from the monastery.)  She is Financial Aid Counsleor for online students at Eastern Kentucky University.  She is also currently working on her Masters degree at Morehead University.  I am extremely proud of her.

Rebecca arrived a little after 7 p.m. on Friday evening.  The next morning we attended Fr. Seamus’ conference together.  Fr. Seamus suggested that we take a moment while we on retreat to complete an excersie.  He encouraged us to draw a straight line on a piece of paper.  At the beginning of the line, he asked us to write the year of our birth and at the end write 2015.   Then he asked us to draw a horizontal line on top of the straight line for all the joyous moments of your life.   Then, draw a horizontal line on the bottom on the line for all the painful events.   When you finish, look at these life moments and see God’s grace in all of them.  I followed Fr. Seamus’ suggestion and completed the excerise.

One of the happiest and most significant events of my life was the day Rebecca was born.  She is the person who made me an Aunt.  She is kind, sensitive, caring, smart and has a great sense of humor.  For example, she texted Aunt Sallie saying she was having a great time “being silent” with Aunt Vall.

We went into Bardstown and enjoyed lunch at Kurtz Restaurant. We walked around the grounds at My Old Kentucky Home. At Gethsemani, we walked up Mt. Calvary and attended the offices. We spend WAY too much money at thr gift shop and just enjoyed being together.  It was such a joy to share this sacred place with her.

i count it all joy,

Pastor Vallerie