Peering Beyond the Prayer Book: Preface



What really goes on in there?


It’s official: I have been living in the Monastery of St. Gertrude in Cottonwood, Idaho for three months. Taking into consideration that I have come all the way from Upstate New York and I am twenty-three years old, this seems even more remarkable. After three months, I have started to get a handle on the routine here, like the daily schedule and where the dishes go, and I have started to find some of my favorite places, such as a certain spot in the dining room. I have even started to get used to the irregularities, such as that Tuesdays and Saturdays are usually midday praise and not Mass, supper is before prayer on Saturday evening, and that the midday meal is called dinner and the evening meal is supper (normally lunch and dinner to me).

                      

Despite all this familiarity however, I still find myself puzzling over the people themselves. I am sorry to admit, but sometimes my attention wanders (specifically during prayer), and I tend to focus instead on the people around me. Here are about 30 women with whom I pray, work, and live, yet all I know is a handful of facts that really tell me nothing about who they are as individuals and as a community. Even more worrying is that beyond the chapel walls are the dedicated staff and volunteers, who essentially keep this place running, and I know even less about these individuals.

My goal since arriving in Idaho has been to let people know what is in Idaho, and even more specifically, what is in Cottonwood, Idaho at the Monastery of St. Gertrude. Before I came the only thing my family and friends knew was that potatoes came from Idaho. One marvelous aspect that I have found in this area has been a value for the recollection of history. I have been surprised to see so much history here at the Monastery, and then there are so many old objects as well! What I mean is that the stories and experiences of the people detail the history of this monastic community and of the world at large. To talk with people who have more than three times the years of wisdom as I do is quite a humbling experience, and I am reminded of the hymn we often sing that states, “We come to share our story, we come to break the bread, we come to know our rising from the dead.” By coming together in community, in any shape or form, our stories expand together into a larger story, inextricably linking us all together into one human family. For me, this would be the best story to share, and I am ready to listen, learn and appreciate, and then share these voices from this corner of the world.

So then, where to begin? What would I like to know about the sisters and staff here at the Monastery of St. Gertrude? After much thought, I returned to the Benedictine motto I have often heard, “Ora et Labora,” or “Prayer and Work.” The prayer life thus far has been everything I could expect. The work life, on the other hand, is relatively undefined beyond my own responsibilities. I know more or less where everyone works, but much of what each individual does day in and day out is still a mystery to me. I have developed my own schedule and routines and still it feels as if I have barely scratched the surface of what I can learn about monastic life. If I truly want this to be a monastic immersion experience, then I need to take the plunge and immerse myself fully into the monastic lifestyle, starting by finding out what people do with their time and how it fits within the community as a whole. To pray and work, according to St. Benedict, is the means to live a balanced life, and since balance is exactly what I was looking for here, the choice becomes apparent.

So this is where I shall begin: I will interview people within various departments and with different responsibilities. I will offer my services as a “professional volunteer” (and yes, that is on my resumé) in exchange for some time to ask each person about what they do and why. Through this I hope to learn more about the community here, the Benedictine way of life, and especially more about each person individually, reflecting on individual and communal stories. When the prayer book is set down, I want to see how the words said come to life in action, and I hope I am open enough for my story to be changed in the process.

Wish me luck,

Sarah