Raw materials

National Catholic Reporter, Oct 13, 2006

What materials are needed to build a spiritual life center?

Faith. I cannot journey without it. It brings me to the Spirit. We have all been given all the faith we will ever need, as a gift.

Nature. Nature is where the Spirit resides outside of myself. The spirit that our Native American seekers knew: spirit of the rivers, the ponds, the meadows, the trees, the flowers, the sky and the sun, leading us to a Power so awesome as to blind us at the very sight.

Quiet. A raw material in such short supply in the world in which we live, it is a basic resource at a spiritual center. Quiet that allows the spirit within me to connect to the spirit for which I search.

Seekers. Sojourners are raw materials, not finished products. They are in transition and always on the journey. Beginners giving seasoned searchers new views, new opportunities to revisit places on their own path, as seeing something for the first time with a child can be the most exhilarating of moments.

Acceptance. Acceptance of myself and others allows me to exist in my world and grow toward the inner peace of my center.

The building is made of cement blocks, two-by-fours, windows, pipes and paint. But the raw materials of the Clementwood Spiritual Life Center are alive and in flux, constantly building upon themselves.

JACQUELINE ABBEY

Rutland, Vt.