The following is an excerpt from a blog written by Sarah Noceda, one of our 2011 Volunteers in Community, about her experiences and insights during her time with us here at Holy Wisdom Monastery this summer. The title she chose for her blog, The Pulse of Beauty – A Confirmed City Girl looks for God in a Monastery, reflects the refreshing, open spirit she has brought to this experience. We are grateful to Sarah for allowing us to share parts of her posts as a way others might gain a small taste of her experience.
Sarah will continue to add to these blog posts throughout her stay with us. Additional day’s reflections can be found by following this link: A Confirmed City Girl looks for God in a Monastery Come back often to share in her experience! Beginning next week, I will also share some of my reflections on the gifts our Volunteers in Community bring to our monastic community.
I saw a pear tree today
And it made me cry. I suppose that’s not the usual response to viewing fruit trees. But I had never seen one in person before and it was so beautiful and it looked so graceful spreading its dusky green branches out, its small, hard fruit bending its weight this way and that with the wind… I nearly stepped back out of some strange sense of respect. I knew pears grew on trees, of course. I had eaten pears in the past. But to see it there…
Today is my first day at Holy Wisdom Monastery in Madison, WI. I have come from Chicago to an in-residence program of sorts. They call it VIC-Volunteers in Community.
. . .
Yep. That’s right. I came from Chicago to live with some nuns. On purpose.
. . .
I will stay for a month. I will work. I will study. I will pray. I will meditate. And I will search for the Essential Good at the Heart of the Universe. Otherwise known as God, Allah, YHWH, Great Spirit, Brahman, Imana, and The Turning of the Shade. I will search for a knowledge of that Force, for a “knowing” that I may carry home with me.
. . .
