An Annual Pilgrimage

I just returned from one of my favorite places in the entire world – The Gethsemani Abbey in Trappist, Kentucky. I’ve been making my annual pilgrimage for several years now and I grow more and more in love with the place each year! Gethsemani is a completely silent monastery and has been that way since 1848. Catholic theologian and author Thomas Merton lived here as a monk. In fact, he’s buried there. The reason I go to Gethsemani each year is simply to rest and re-charge my spiritual batteries. I think it’s important to intentionally pull away for awhile and listen to God. I live in a busy, noisy world. There’s something about pulling away from all of that for a few days just to listen for God’s voice, just to be quiet. I hear things in a completely different way. I teach myself how to listen more than I talk. I remind myself that I’m really not all that important. The world goes on without me. In fact, over the past few days while I was away, our country elected a brand new President. I didn’t even find out what happened until I came home. It wasn’t as big of a deal as I thought it was. The monks kept on chanting. I kept on praying. God kept on reaching out to me through the silence. There’s no pressure on me here to change peoples’ lives. There’s no pressure on me to keep a conversation going. I can sit down for dinner across the table from someone without worrying about what I should or shouldn’t say. When I first got here I decided to take a walk through the woods. As I walked, I stumbled across a small shelter where some people pray and journal their thoughts. I stopped and went inside. What I saw was exactly what I needed. On my 3 hour drive down here, I prayed that God would speak to me and show me what I needed to hear. He didn’t waste any time. I was here all of 30 minutes and God showed me something in the middle of the woods. Here it is straight from Psalm 46:10:

Be still and know that I am God.
Be still and know.
Be still.
Be.

This is what I needed to hear most: God simply wants me to BE! He wants me to learn what it really means to exist as His Beloved Son…to know that I’m one of His children…that I’m loved just for who I am…and that’s enough. I don’t have to produce. I don’t have to measure up. I don’t have to change the world. I simply need to learn how to BE…and I can figure out how best to do that right here at Gethsemani. Lord, help me take this truth home with me and begin living in the “Gethsemani Way” back home.