Monastic Greenery

One of the cheerful aspects of life at Mount St. Scholastica is the fresh flowers that grace our dining room table, chapels, and various nooks. Sr. Philomene Glotzbach is especially skilled at highlighting the beauty not just of the blooms but of the supporting greenery in a flower arrangement. The brightness of the flowers and the steadfastness of the stems and leaves complement each other in a delightful harmony.

Just as in a flower arrangement, we often tend to overlook the persons who provide the “greenery” in the monastery—the faithful ones who place new worship aid sheets in each choir stall at the beginning of the week, put away the peanut butter and crackers after 10 o’clock “lunch” in the break room, and fill a big tin with popcorn so it’s ready for movie night. Community life flows gracefully when every person performs her tasks faithfully.

This past week I attended a 5th-grade vocation day in Topeka with Sr. Barbara Smith. In describing community life to 10- and 11-year-old girls, Sr. Barbara said that it was like being on a field hockey team; she used to play the right wing position, and she and the players in the left inner and right halfback positions worked together to advance down the field and make a goal. Similarly, every person’s contributions to life in community are important and necessary, and everyone must work together “that in all things God may be glorified.”

As Ram Dass noted, “We are all just walking each other home” to our goal of fullness of life with God … and the journey is a lot more pleasant when a companion keeps the path mowed and bakes bread or cookies to share along the way!