January 19 - Setting Sail

In the scorching heat of spiritual dryness, God is worshiped and praised in the cloister. When all around and even all within is tumultuous and complex, the stones of the Abbey ring with songs of adoration and the proclamation of the majesty of God.

As on those days when it would seem heaven itself could hardly hold more joy and peace than does the monastery, God is exalted, just as He is when food is scarce and Sisters are ill and even when death claims one of their own.

Praise and prayers rise to the throne of grace when snow falls and the earth is "as iron," just as they do when the Divine Office is accompanied by the warble of birds in spring.

We will explore more and more of the “rudder craft” that produces peace in Cor Unum, the ipso facto of devotional life which will become the mortar in our walls and the stone beneath our feet. We will learn as we go and we will gain strength and understanding with the dawn of each new day, and not least because we do go on.

For us in Cor Unum as for every well-instructed monastic, to know what we know, to see from our vantage point, is to dwell in heavenly places, for we know this: the Lord God is worthy of our devotion. He is worthy of all praise. When our worship is full and when it is faint, He is worthy. When our hearts rejoice and when they constrict, He is worthy.

When we set the sails of our lives by the vector of God’s glory, our devotional lives will hold course, and the cargo of all the good to which we have been called by God, will arrive safely in harbor.

"Setting Sail"
photo by Kerry