Backyard Blessings

     At Noonday Prayer on Monday, June 2, we read from St. Paul, “If you have been raised with Christ seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are of earth, for you have died with Christ and your life is hidden with Christ in God (Col. 3:1-3) 

     I know Paul was making a point and one should not take things out of context, yet his words struck me. I couldn’t have disagreed more. I side with people like Gerard Manley Hopkins and Teilhard de Chardin who see Christ in all of God’s handiwork. 

      That experience was probably in my mind when I walked out the back door of the monastery and was greeted by “tweet tweet” from a robin in an oak tree. I asked the robin for more but there was silence. There was no song but there was dance and color. Trees and flowers of all colors were swaying in the wind: red oaks, evergreens, holly, redbuds and purple leaf plum trees, blue and red salvia, yellow marigolds, yellow achillea, white vinas, pink veronica and purple verbenas. 

     Sister Mariana is one of our gardeners. She can be seen duly and lovingly planting seeds, putting plants in the ground in spring and caring for them during the summer and fall. Other sisters who plant flowers or vegetables in their gardens on the grounds assist in helping show forth the beauty and fruitfulness of God’s creation. Here at St. Walburg we set our minds on things that are above, where Christ is. We set our eyes on the beauty of God’s earth and raise our voices in praise of God from whom all blessings flow. 

             Sister Justina Franxman, OSB