One requirement of being a “monk for a month” is to
participate a few hours each day in the work of the monastery. This, of course,
makes perfect sense given that “Ora et Labora” is the Benedictine motto for
monastic life.
I arrived at the monastery two weeks ago on Thursday around
11 am. At 11:30 am, we prayed. At noon, we had “dinner,” the main meal for the
day. At 12:30 pm, I began my first work assignment: “Dark Side” work in the
kitchen, that is, cleaning pots and pans. I don’t know why but I kind of like
being assigned to the Dark Side. It sounds mysterious even though the work is mundane.
Yet, it’s also kind of meditative, at least for me. Three of us work together –
the first person scrapes; the second washes; the third rinses and sanitizes. A rhythm
develops and the whole production is a sort of spontaneously choreographed dance.
At least to me. For others, it seems to
be the job that people try to avoid, which I might also do if I had to do the
scraping all the time. I’ve been lucky that my Dark Side companions have been
good about jumping right in while I’m still lingering at dinner or supper.
Okay – lingering is a gross exaggeration. There’s no
lingering after meals. This is quite an adjustment for me. When we eat supper
at 5:30 pm, we have stood in the buffet line, chosen our food, picked up a
drink, settled in at a table, and started eating. We’ll then have stopped
briefly when one of the sisters reads a prayer and then returned to eating and
conversation. By 6:00 pm, sometimes 5:55 pm, I have finished eating and have reported
for Dark Side duty in the kitchen!
Because I do pots and pans every day, twice a day, lingering
is not an option.
When it comes to work, I like to say I’m a free agent so I’m really available to
any of the sisters who might need some assistance. Thus, I’ve done a bunch of
jobs already. I've:
·
- Watered plants throughout the monastery
- · Organized bookshelves in one of the offices
- · Addressed envelopes
- · Folded laundry, made beds and washed dishes at the B&B, The Inn
- · Taught one of the sisters some computer skills
- · Helped to break that same sister’s printer
o
S. Corinne: “Are
you computer literate?”
o
Me: “Yes
I am.”
o
S. Corinne: “Okay, good; then maybe you can fix my printer.”
o
Me: “I’m
not so sure about that; I’m computer-literate but I’m not a computer repair person. And I don’t have much luck with technology.”
o
S. Corinne: “Well,
let’s take a look. There’s a piece of paper stuck in the printer and maybe
you can get it out…”
Without going into detail about how
I fashioned homemade pliers from a flat-head screwdriver and a scissor blade to
complete the delicate procedure of removing the very minute piece of stuck
paper in Corinne’s printer at The Inn, suffice it to say that she has a very
nice new printer with which to conduct her business.
·
Mopped the Dining Room floor
·
Changed linens in the Dining Room from blue (for
Lent) to white (for Easter)
·
Pruned fruit trees (more on that later)
·
And made raspberry jam
Who knows what tomorrow will bring. I’ll keep you posted.
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