Br. Luis presents on one of our best teachers: “One of my best teachers in the monastery as of late has been one of our venerable seniors, Father Lawrence, who suffers from a severely aged body and rapidly progressing dementia. Fr. Lawrence, who is mostly bedridden, enjoys an occasional ride in his wheelchair just to get some fresh air. On a recent occasion, we rolled down a road near Deer Creek, which is lined with beautiful, soaring pine trees. As I pushed and scanned the heights of the trees, I suddenly heard a gleeful exclamation and command, “Look, look!” Father Lawrence, full of child-like delight, was pointing at grey squirrels that hopped, twitched, and nibbled around us. “Look there and there,” Father insisted. And I did. Everywhere I looked, squirrels seemed to appear spontaneously. It was actually rather creepy. Whereas I had not really noticed many squirrels during my walk with Fr. Lawrence, now I was being overwhelmed by myriad little grey creatures coming out of the woods as if on cue to greet us. As Fr. Lawrence and I rolled back to his room, I thanked him for teaching me that looking is the first step to seeing. Whether it’s a grey squirrel or heavenly blessings, Fr. Lawrence helped me understand that you’ll see a whole lot of what you begin to look for. “
Advent blessings,
your brothers of New Clairvaux
#wonder #mindfulness #squirrels #delight #trappists #monks #stroll
