Category: Monastery

Power of Music

Last evening, September 29, we traveled a considerable distance to Atlanta to see a concert. Sometimes it is worth the price of time and distance to experience the ethereality of music. This concert was such a one.

The setting was a large Methodist church on Peachtree Road in Buckhead. The sanctuary was a perfect setting acoustically and esthetically, one conducive to meditation during the music.

I love classical romantic music, that which is very lyrical, pieces such as “Scheherazade”, “The Lark Ascending”, and “The Firebird”. Rachmaninoff is a late romantic. His “All-Night Vigil” is an incredibly rich and melodic choral masterpiece. The text contains Russian Orthodox versions of Latin hymns such as “Gloria in Excelsis”, “Ave Maria”, the “Magnificat”, and the “Nunc Dimittis”. The music combines text from several services of the daily office (or hours) to serve for a night-long service in Russian monasteries on eves of holy days.

The opening notes came upon us like a wall of sound, and for an hour we were immersed in a musical sea. The Russian basses go to depths of the lowest B-flat while the sopranos soar to angelic heights.

Select a recording of Op. 37, “All-Night Vigil” also known as “Vespers”. Sit back. Enjoy. . .

Dark nights. . .beautiful sunrises

It is a Monet sunrise here in the Great Smoky Mountains. I have been watching the sun gradually disperse the mists since 5 a.m. I have come to love early morning, in fact both ends of the day, punctuated by the prayers of Vigils and Compline. When younger I did not appreciate those times of day or the prayers, but age teaches and mellows us.

In one of the very low periods in my life I was commuting almost 200 miles round trip from Lake Hartwell to work in Atlanta. That is when I found peace at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit, and rediscovered faith and spirituality. I learned to appreciate rising around 3:30, even in the chill of winter, to begin my day with reflection and prayer. I would meditate as I made the long drive, using the time for quiet thought.

That time was a gift, one that has remained with me. We don’t think of such dark nights of the soul as gifts, but that is what they are. I have had a wonderful reward, one of appreciation for such mornings as this.

Metamorphosis

No, this post is not about Franz Kafka! It is about butterflies.

We spent Saturday, September 23, at the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, Georgia attending an all-day workshop on pollinators: Monarch butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to name a few. We got back to Franklin late Saturday night. It was a wonderful day of learning at a special place of reflection and faith. For me this has been a summer learning more about Monarch butterflies that amazingly migrate thousands of miles to forests in Mexico to winter in colonies of millions. I remember them as a kid on our Minnesota farm. They are more numerous in the midwest than here in the southeastern United States. I have several milkweed plants, the host for Monarchs, in my flower garden.

When visiting in Minnesota in July my sister, Janet, and I learned from m our cousin, Louise, how to raise Monarch larva in the house. Louise is a former teacher, very patient and caring. As a result of what we learned Janet successfully reared 7 butterflies this summer.

Many of our pollinators are in trouble. That could be disastrous for mankind. The reasons include habitat loss and use of pesticides. At the conference we learned things, many small, that we can do, such as a few good pollinating plants where we have space in our gardens. My milkweed plants did not do well this year. Aphids were particularly bad. By now my plants were worn and ragged, and I was thinking of cutting them.  Unbelievable coincidence/miracle, when I checked my garden last Sunday there was a Monarch caterpillar on the milkweed! We brought him in the house and fed him milkweed leaves until today when he spun his chrysalis!!! It appears we may have success with this Monarch.

In five years here at our Franklin home I have only seen 1 Monarch butterfly. That was this summer. 1 butterfly, 3 poor milkweed plants . . . it is incredible that we have hopes to hatch a healthy butterfly to return to Mexico. The lesson in all we do is that is is the small things, the attention to detail and the caring that may bear fruit. And, we all go through out own metamorphosis as we age and learn.