Squirrel

  • About
    • Meet Nicole
    • Disclosure
  • Writing
  • Listen. Learn. Love.
  • Publications
  • Books & Magazine
  • Contact
  • Home

Linger 1

November 11, 2020 Listening to God:, Noticing (Everyday life)

The Secret World Within. for the Mudroom.

Copy of Apathy

“To wonder is to stand in the towering shadow of God however frightened we are of our own smallness. Like Moses, let us pause at the buses that burn. Like Tomas, let us bend for a closer look at Christ—even if, paradoxically, it’s doubt that reaches to touch his side. Let us have certainty when it’s available; let us have humility when it’s not.” – Jen Pollock Michel, Surprised by Paradox

IMG_6850

Everything about this view is comforting—familiar. I’ve marveled at the symmetrical beauty of the magnolia lane dozens of times. The glistening leaves of the towering Magnolia Grandiflora trees mark the old entrance to the Monastery of the Holy Spirit. When you stand there, you feel minuscule, like you are a part of something grand that must have always existed this way. Like you could melt away and no one would notice you were ever there.

I imagine the changes to the world that these trees have witnessed during their stalwart watch over the monks who arrived on the old plantation grounds in 1944. Beyond that, I haven’t thought much about the trees before. Nestled on over 1,000 acres of Georgia woodlands, the monastery offers many other sights like the geese by the lake or the glorious stained glass windows.

I’ve always arrived with a purpose in mind. I always like to be here during the liminal space between two years, asking God to guide me as I enter the next season. I’ve come when discerning a big decision that I need to wisdom for. I’ve been on retreats to learn from a few of the 300 remaining Cistercian monks in the world about a specific topic like contemplative prayer or writing. I’ve always brought expectation as my companion to this place.

Today is different. I am on a solo retreat with no agenda. The church, cafe, and museum are all still closed due to the pandemic. I can’t converse with the brothers or join them for prayer today.

Yet, I need a weekend of silence and some time on what always feels like holy ground to me.

The world has been extra noisy lately. The voices shouting about elections and diseases, sides to take, and lines to draw—have become too much to take. I come to God with a million questions that I am not sure how to begin to ask.

I feel aimless at first. I open my Bible. I journal for a while. I sit in silent prayer. Then, I just start to wander the grounds.

I amble past the trees, at first looking up at the way they seem to touch the sky. That’s usually what I notice about them—their height and their shine, the way the leaves are never changing year-round when everything around them seems to whither.

Today my pace is slower so I stop to notice the sunlight that is much brighter at the base of trees that reach all the way to the ground, no trunk visible. They seem one with the earth, like there is no dividing line between the two.

I step closer and the vision changes. The branches touching the earth aren’t springing from below; they grow sharply downward from the middle of the trunk, jutting out at strange angles. They conceal a cavelike area between the branches and the trunk of the tree.

 

mudroomiconsmall

CONTINUE READING AT THE MUDROOM

Welcome
Welcome
SUBSCRIBE
Want new blog posts slipped into your inbox? Subscribe and get the latest!
Featured On:
Fathom
CT Women
incourage
Everbloom
Red Letter Christians
Relevant Magazine
SheLoves Magazine: a global community of women who love
The Mudroom
Ready
Follow Nicole
NicoleTWalters

Nicole T. Walters

3243 friends

2830 followers

4324 tweets

Follow nicoletwalters on Twitter

Let’s connect!
Let’s connect!
Nicole T. Walters
Tweets
  • Just thought the world out there needed some of this cute face. He rides in my lap everyday through car line, with… https://t.co/8EWeGQEGJJ 3 weeks ago
  • @tracesoffaith Thanks ladies. So great to see your faces!! 3 weeks ago
  • @BethMooreLPM https://t.co/mh23Oxl6o4 3 weeks ago

Follow Nicoletwalters on Twitter

Please enter an Access Token on the Instagram Feed plugin Settings page.

Search this Site
Recent Posts
  • Walking Hope
  • Dwell
  • You Have the Tools
  • The Secret World Within
  • Wandering the Labyrinth Together
  • Of Blistered and Beautiful Feet
2021 © Nicole T. Walters