Mount Michael Benedictine Abby

Yesterday we had lunch at Mount Michael Abby. Actually it was at the St. Benedict Guest House. Reservations were made two months ago. I understand the backlog. The food was served in elegant warmth. One does not order from the menu. One is not presented a bill. No, we eat what is being served that day, with wine and dessert, and donate whatever we are moved to.

My own experience there was enhanced by the aesthetics, the early elegant Nebraska farmhouse, the period table setting, the music, paintings, the food of course, and by our host, a servant in the truest meaning of the word, Brother Jerome.

As I visited with Bro. Jerome, over purchasing some greeting cards, I discovered that of the ten I had chosen, he had painted five. They are perhaps the most beautiful cards I have ever seen. I asked him if one could come to purchase cards at any time. "Yes," he said, "these are the envelopes for the money." He motioned to a few legal sized envelopes beside the cash register. The door is never locked. People are not always there. I was amazed at the unconventional wisdom of that.

He intoduced me to robed Novice, Cori, who was behind us during that little visit, who was washing our dishes by hand. He told me he was from Oklahoma, but not that he was a 1999 Creighton University graduate. Bro. Jerome had been there for 40 years, arriving when he was 21.

On Friday mornings 10 to 12 people gather in a cozy conversation center to pray and meditate in the lectio divina discipline. Being guided through that Benedictine way of prayer several years ago, I found it life changing.

I am truly a conflicted Lutheran.