Tending to our relationships

What does it mean to live in community?  Gathered at the Monastery of Our Lady of Grace in Beech Grove, Indiana, that was one of the basic questions that 20 Protestant clergy women from around the country began to explore together under the tutelage of the Benedictine sisters there.  I was privileged to be one of those women.

There were seven of us from the ELCA, four Presbyterians, three Episcopalians, two United Methodists, one United Church of Christ, one Reformed Church in America, one American Baptist, and one Non-denominational. We were from all over the country: California, Oregon, New York, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Texas, and Georgia.

We introduced ourselves and shared our "stories." Each one was a gift to the others as we laughed and prayed and played together.  I even gave one of the Episcopalian priests a golf lesson!  She'd always wanted to learn how to play.  Mornings were lecture-type session; afternoons were a balance of small groups, massages, or spiritual direction.  There was also ample time for individual prayer, exercise, walks and conversations.  Every day we stopped whatever we were doing and joined the sisters for morning prayer at 8:00am and evening prayer at 5:00pm in the chapel.  We learned from the sisters how to pray the psalms (singing or speaking) by listening to one another, matching our voices so that we prayed with one voice.  (Matching pace, pitch, and rhythm in prayer and singing form unity and community.)

Each participant was assigned a sister as a prayer partner and we pray for each other every day now.  It is a powerful and comforting thought that Sister Carol and Sister Harriet are praying for me each day (and I for them).

Through our lectures and our experiences, we learned that worship and prayer are at the center of a community's life together, that each person's presence is a gift to the community, that the stability of the community is dependent upon the commitment of every individual to the whole, that conversation and really listening to one another is critical, and that "tending to our relationships requires constant attention."

There is, of course, much more to tell and I have begun to share some of what I learned and experienced with one of the Christian Education classes.  I hope that over the next six months I will have other opportunities to share more with you.  But for now, know that I am praying for you, people of Unity.

-- Pastor Karen