Welcome guests

This first weekend of October has continued the onslaught, no not onslaught, a parade of guests that have been slowly but surely coming in and out of our home since Labor Day. One of the groups this weekend included early arrivals for Benetvision's Readers' Retreat.

One of the nicest things about this 12-year event is where it is held. The place is at a lovely country setting about 20 miles south of Erie. Here is a drop-dead-gorgeous orchid that was at the entrance of the foyer.

On the other hand, most of our guests have raved about our own grounds which they walk faithfully throughout their stay and,thanks to a mild weather week, here are some of what they are seeing:

Third in the series

I'm writing again about the BBC mysteries that we love and taking this time to introduce a new one: Endeavour.

To go back to the beginning: in the 1990s in Britain, a detective show began based on a popular series of novels. The series was titled, Morse, and turned out to be extremely popular---in large part for its great acting, fine mysteries and top notch writing. The lead was fashioned as one of the last of the "English gentlemen detectives": highly educated, just a touch snobby, lover of opera, art, and all things British! The setting was Oxford, England and the stories were just wonderful. Morse's asst. was Sgt. Robbie Lewis. We watched all the Morse shows and, gratefully, then found the Inspector Lewis series, a spin off from the first, which began in 2006.

Lewis and his assistant, James Hathaway, became the second series that we watched from beginning to end and enjoyed just as much, if not more, than the Morse series. We finally finished the Lewis series with great lamenting for the end of these great, great mysteries. But, soon after we were surprised and thrilled to discover the third in the series: Endeavour, a prequel to the first two--with the main character being Morse (Endeavour Morse) when he is just starting out as a young detective. Kudos to the Erie County Library for carrying the DVDs of all three series.

The first name of Morse was never mentioned throughout the series, until the very last show. Now "Endeavour" is known by all his fans!

Morse and Robbie Lewis in the Inspector Morse mysteries.

Sitting on bells

Tonight I am "sitting on bells" which means, translated to everyday understanding, I am taking my monthly turn sitting at the front door and running the switchboard. In old monastic terms it means being the portress. In the Rule of Benedict there is an entire chapter on this service: Chapter 53. Here we find this lovely and oft quoted line: "All guests who present themselves are to be welcomed as Christ..." And in a contemporary commentary on this we read, "Hospitality is the way we turn a prejudiced world around, one heart at a time."

In reality, being at switchboard-bells (in the old motherhouse, Morse Code-like bells were rung to indicate which sister was being called) is 1/2 a time to say hello to lots of sisters, as many pass through the front foyer on their way to somewhere and 1/2 a chance to catch up on anything that 2-3 hours of presence in one place with few interruptions can facilitate. Of course there is the occasional guest at the door, and when that happens it's a chance to live out Chapter 53--in real time.

Here's our front door...no not really! But this is what you see if you come to our front door and look up: the bell tower and the new clerestory on the chapel. 

Caught a bug

I've caught the early autumn bug. Although we're only one week into the season I'm already spying the changes that are just beginning to happen. We've been smelling this year's grape crop and loving the cool nights for sleeping with yet 70+ degrees in the afternoons. No wonder it's so many people favorite season!

Some of the beautiful grasses.

Daisy mums in all colors.

For those who love order and organization--this one's for you!

God, the Great Spirit, you call us to be in the circle of life;
You have given us Mother Earth sharing your nurturing and sustaining power in all its beauty.
Help us to be gentle, kind and attentive to Your presence in nature.
Bless all Native Americans who teach us to stand together like trees with roots intertwined, strengthening each other.
We ask all of this through the Great Spirit, our God.
Amen

On the Edge

One of my most favorite things to do on our 120 acres is to walk along the tree lines, the end of any grassed area where the mowing stops and the woods begin. Down at Glinodo this perimeter is a gold mine of nature finds and a whole little treasure house that backs up along the creek or the lake border. The "edges" aren't bad up here at the Mount either. In fact, I never fail to spot something I've never seen in awhile or didn't know was ever there at all. This week was no exception as I went out after office hours and took a spin along the south end of the Mount property and found some very special memories.

Our Sister Veronica Byer died in June 2014. For those of you who never met her, you missed a treat. She was a true character--most worthy of the name! Everything she did was so quirky, at least what she did from ages 75-95 when I knew her! One of her most public characteristics was the making of woods art (for lack of a more suitable name). She would put her designs in our woods, usually along the way to the hermitages. Her little black bear caused more than one fright for a hermitage visitor when caught in their flashlight beam after nightfall!

On my walk this week I came upon her last woods characters as they are quietly decomposing in the spot exactly where she last put them. It used to be at the entrance to an alternative path to hermitage #1 and the windmill, but water and erosion washed it out and the grasses and woods slowly closed it up. But Sister Veronica's welcoming signs remained.

This little lamb and deer along side a bench for resting, are the best preserved characters.

She supported our corporate commitment to peace you might say, by placing a Bring our Boys Home sign and a little girl crying along side grave stones.

I thought I recognized this girl in the blue dress, even though she was upside down. When I flipped it over, sure enough, there she was.       Note the ribbon belt...multi-mediums!

We're #2

On my way home one day this week I witnessed something that I had only seen on TV shows, in movies or read about in magazines:

a person going through a dumpster.

It really stunned me, probably somewhat because it came in the same week that our newspaper, the Erie Times News carried its annual story on poverty rates in the city of Erie. Yes, we're #2 in Pennsylvania with the city's poverty rate 26.9% behind only Reading, PA. This is calculated as the people or families living below the government-defined poverty line, which for a family of four is less than $24,300 annually.

The heartbreak continued when I read the age breakdowns: 38% of city children below 18 live in poverty; for those below age 5 it's 50%. And for seniors 65 and older 1 out of every 8 is poor. All this can be summarized by one number: Over 25,000 human beings in the city of Erie are poor.

If you know our community you would tell me that we are doing much in this area, and you would be right. Communally we do quite a bit: soup kitchen, day care, low income housing, job training and placement, after school options for children. But, what am I as an individual doing? That is the question that is haunting me this week ever since I took this picture. I am determined to find something more, just for myself, one individual.

Benetwood 1981-2016

Back in 1981 the community successfully applied to HUD for an apartment complex to be built on our land, directly south of the monastery. This month Benetwood Apartments is celebrating 35 years of operation as a 75-unit complex for independent low income elderly. One of our sisters has always been the director of this special ministry since its beginning and many other sisters have worked/lived at Benetwood over the last three and a half decades.

This weekend Benetwood held an open house for its anniversary and also celebrated the major renovations it has been able to accomplish this past year (new kitchen appliances, new flooring in kitchens and bathrooms for all apartments and replacement of all old wallpaper with fresh coats of paint in apartments and hallways.)

This brainchild of Sister Mary Philip Kiehlmeier is going strong, always has a waiting list, and offers a truly family/community experience for the people living there. We are proud of Benetwood's heritage and especially of the sisters whose work in those early years brought it to be the outstanding "home" it is today.

One of the sweetest statues of Mary and the child Jesus is in the front foyer of Benetwood Apartments.

The large general community rooms look out into the gardens that surround Benetwood.

A few years ago HUD approved the addition of a small computer "lab." It is very well used.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary, the residents purchased this unique clock for the community/gathering rooms where residents spend evenings, holidays and many special times enjoying their Benetwood "family."