Colleen Hartung (second from right in the foreground), gives back to the worshiping
community through her work with the children of Sunday Assembly.
In January, Coleen Hartung and I were talking about her dissertation on the liturgy at Sunday Assembly. In the course of the conversation she told me how much it meant to her and to her family to participate in Sunday Assembly these past 10-plus years and to be involved with the people at Holy Wisdom. Coleen, her husband Kent, and the children were welcomed warmly from the first day they arrived. They appreciated the inclusive language used in the liturgy and the way people reached out to their children. A number of the members mentored Michael and Mary Kate as they prepared for their affirmation of faith. Coleen’s expression of what her family’s experience has meant to them was so heart-felt that it touched me deeply. I left our conversation buoyed up, grateful to know that the Sunday Assembly community had contributed in such a significant way to their lives. Our conversation gave me energy for my new work in Benedictine spirituality formation for the communities associated with us. Through her sharing I had a deeper appreciation for what this formation can mean in people’s lives.
When we talk about community life, Sister Mary David Walgenbach often uses the image of a pot. She says community life works best when all the members add to the common pot. Then there is something available for us to draw from when we need it. Community life can’t be sustained when people draw from the pot without adding to it. Colleen added to the communal pot of gratitude and meaning for me that day. This is but one of the many ways she and her family add to life at the monastery.
Our community of communities at the monastery is sustained by so many of you who add to the pot of our life together. Oblates, Sunday Assembly members, Friends of Wisdom Prairie, volunteers, coworkers, donors, retreatants, visitors and friends—you all add to the pot through your words of gratitude and appreciation, your acts of kindness to one another, your contributions of time, talent and treasure, the wisdom of your experience that you share and in ways I undoubtedly don’t know about.
Benedictine Sojourners, Paz Vital and Denise West, add their energy and enthusiasm to our community life. I marvel at how faithful each of them is to the prayers, the work and personal reflection that is part of this Benedictine experience. Many times they have expressed their gratitude for the teaching, the presence and hospitality we sisters offer them even as they draw from the community for their ongoing spiritual growth. They recognize that it takes energy on the sisters’ part to open our home and lives to them as we do. For their part, their whole-hearted participation in the sojourner experience adds to our community life. We sisters draw energy and motivation to continue from their “good zeal” (Rule of Benedict). Mary David, Joanne Kollasch and I are grateful to share our lives with such willing, open and delightful women.
Sometimes people marvel at how such a small community of sisters has been able to do so much over the years. Because we are a small community we have always drawn on the strength, talent and energy of others. This creates a synergy that moves us into the future with energy and hope. This is the Spirit’s work among us, I believe.
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Follow this link to read additional blog posts in the series titled Building Community.