Retreat! Retreat to a monastery! (A non-Catholic girl's visit to the monks)

I'm not Catholic. I was brought up with a brand of Calvinism in what was called the Reformed Church. My small hometown had six different reformed churches, a Lutheran church in the country, and a Catholic church fifteen miles away. Northwest Iowa is verrrry Protestant, super conservative, and not a great fit for me anymore. (I live in our state's capital!)

However, I just got back from a two-day retreat to a monastery: New Melleray Abbey. I thought abbeys housed nuns as in, "Maria's not an asset to the abbey." However, this one is home to thirteen Trappist monks.

Monks are amazing--their lives are partly structured by the five services in the beautiful church where they line up in pews that face each other, filing in with the bells. I only went to three during the two days I was there, and now I'm wishing I'd gone to more. My friend Teresa (another English teacher) actually is Catholic and went to many of the services. Again, I should have. They were very heavy on the psalms and all were beautiful and peaceful. The upper windows were open and the birds were loud enough to almost drown out the voices at times. It was pretty magical--maybe the wrong word.

A retreat at New Melleray is a wonderful escape from everything else (I went last summer as well). It's spiritual and quiet (you are to practice silence inside the guest house and church--and you're to avoid using technology).  I took many, many books, and read and read and wrote and wrote.

If you look at my picture below you will see that several of the texts were reflective nonfiction: CS Lewis on the psalms and Thomas Merton on contemplation. I really enjoyed what I read in  the lil' book on Stoicism. I loved the writing book I took along: The Story Within, and even did some of the exercises (I had plenty of time). I got about 1/3 of Octavia Butler's Parable of the Sower read--it's wonderful. It was a little dark for the monastery but undoubtedly has religious themes.  

Anyway, if you can get yourself away for a spiritual retreat, or someplace quiet where you're absolutely alone a lot and required to not think about work or cleaning your house, I recommend it. I've done several read-a-thons at home, but I have to admit an experience like this is much more immersive and impactful.

I'm not trying to save anyone's soul with this entry! I hope even more so that I have not offended anyone Catholic. There were a couple of Kansas City nuns visiting there as well who assured me it was acceptable that I walked to the railing and received the blessing from a monk. I bought spiritual oil and soaps made with a little holy water for my friends and kids. And the nearby nunnery sells some remarkable caramels in the gift shop as well. 

Here's what I'm going to say: you probably deserve an escape, a reflective retreat, some time alone away from the news, and lots of time to read and write. Spiritually, for me, this was a good fit. But anywhere you can find respite for 48 hours or so--think about going there.  

These are some of the books I brought--WAR AND PEACE (not pictured)  was 

only used to elevate my fan (no air conditioning).

A cool quote on writing from Laura Oliver's 

The Story Within: New Insights and Inspiration for Writers. 

If you read this to the end, thank you!  It was a little self indulgent--as was my retreat.

(Also excuse my messy hair in the photo--obviously, I cheated and used technology a little here and there.)