The beauty queen of the Shieling.
Oxymoron? I have been told there is no such thing as an organic Indiana apple. We began out orchard from scratch 6 years ago. This year was the first time blossoms presented themselves. We decided to let the trees do their thing. No sprays. No powders. No nothin’. Just a dose of wishing and a little prayer. Well. Well. Well. Here we have an apple. A most gorgeous one.
Not a bad size either, if I do say so. I will admit that this is by far the most beauteeful one of the bunch. But the bunch tastes pretty wonderful. We plan to cull them next year to hope for larger apples.
We have picked 4 five gallon buckets full. Not bad for the first season. And you are wondering….are they diseased? Is there such thing as an organic Hoosier apple? They are not diseased. Nothing too terrible got to them. They have this black splotchy stuff on them. I have read that the black splotchy stuff is harmless and it washes them apples up nice and pretty. Just like the store makes them. I bet there are children (and adults) that think apples grow in the back room of the grocers.
Organic apples in Hoosierland do indeed exist.
End of apple story. Have you heard of Thomas Merton?
He was a Trappist Monk priest who lived as a hermit for many years at The Abbey of Gethsemane in Kentucky. Wikipedia describes him as a poet, a social activist, and a student of comparative religion. He was all those things but much more. He is known for studying and embracing many other religions in an effort to bridge social/religious gaps between other religions and his, Catholicism. An ambassador of sorts.
He has written many really good books. Look his work up if you haven’t already.
Thomas can be considered a “cool dude”. He is by far not the stereotype priest or monk. And has had much controversy surrounding his life because of his unconventionalism. Life before monkhood took him places that made him very uncomfortable. Same places I (and probably you too) have been. He did not feel a part much of the time and felt out-of-place in this world. Check. Check. Been there. Alone in his thoughts often. Check. When he encountered life that included God, he began to feel more himself. Though rebellion in a sense remained with him.
His writings have taught me about contemplative prayer and embracing solitude. Contemplative prayer is a state, not too unlike meditation, that you enter into with God and just be. In His Presence. I am with you, God. Wholly. I am sitting with You. Opening a door to let your relationship grow on God’s terms and not yours. By staying silent, we are inviting God to do the talking and not us. It is a powerful form of prayer. It is, by and large, the type of prayer that has so greatly enriched my relationship with Him. How can I hear Him if I am doing all the talking. I really want to know what He has for me. What He has to say to me. And if I face the truth, what I have to say in any matter doesn’t work or matter or interest me. Really.
He spent years in communication with other religious leaders and finally was able to participate in an interfaith conference between Catholic and non-Christian leaders in Bangkok in 1968. He spoke at the conference, went back to his hotel to rest up and was electrocuted stepping out of the shower and died at the age of 53. Controversial even in death. There are numerous books written by him that are wonderful, inspiring, and educational as well as an autobiography, The Seven Story Mountain, which is also a great read.
Apples and Thomas Merton are both food for the soul.
MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.
• Thomas Merton, “Thoughts in Solitude”
God bless,
Karen
The Shieling 