Sister got some air...

Friends,

I neglected to tell you that I'd be "off the grid" for a few days. I left Bristow on Thursday morning at 4 AM, with Robin who will enter our monastery in September. One of the great graces of this ministry is getting to meet the family of our candidates and be the "first face" of Bristow. I am with Robin's family in Dadeville, Alabama. It took us 13.5 hours door-door, but the journey went smoothly. Robin's family has a house on Lake Martin - a huge, man-made body of fresh water. Yesterday, (and I have witnesses,) I got on a BIG innertube tied to the back of a Jet Ski. It only went 23 MPH, but it felt like 40. I got tossed twice. I LOVED it! I am sore today from hanging on for dear life. But it was worth it. I bounced, I bumped and I soared through the air - hence, the new expression I learned. I definitley "got some air!" I'll be back in the office on Tuesday, 6/30. I promise to come home in one piece.

Blessings and love,

- Sister Vicki

"We can work it out..."

I love Scripture – good thing since lectio divina is integral to the monastic life. I usually do lectio with the readings in the Lectionary – the Word proclaimed around the world at the daily Eucharist. This morning, the universal Church heard the story of the parting of Abram and his nephew, Lot. The two, prospering in their respective herds, found the resources of the land insufficient for their needs. “…their possessions were so great that they could not dwell together.” Abram, being the elder, could have literally told Lot where to go. Instead, Abram gave Lot the choice. “If you prefer the left, I will go to the right; if you prefer the right, I will go to the left." Not surprisingly, Lot surveys the land and selects for himself the choicest territory. The two part with a mutual blessing.

Now, how many people would give up first choice, as Abram did? I am not pessimistic about our human nature, but Abram’s selfless choice seems rather heroic. Most people spend a good deal of time thinking about what’s best for them. In giving Lot the “long straw,” Abram is setting a powerful example. Imagine a world in which the good of the other were the operative principle. Saint Benedict believed it was essential in the spiritual journey. “No one is to pursue what she judges better for herself, but instead, what she judges better for someone else (RB 72).” How the world might look if this verse became a global reality. Imagine…Israel and Palestine…India and Pakistan…North and South Korea. Abraham, progenitor of Jews, Christians and Muslims, has, in a few short verses, shown us the way.



Blessings and love to you all...
- Sister Vicki