Learning from the New Skete Puppies
by Bonnie Moore Having just retired from 25 years of parish ministry as a United Church of Christ pastor, I jumped at the opportunity to spend five weeks at New Skete as a Volunteer Resident. I wasn’t sure what I’d be doing after retirement, and I imagined that the time spent at the monastery might provide some solid time for discernment. I was assigned, primarily, to work in the puppy kennel. At the end of my first day, after helping with the socialization, feeding, and (frequent) cleaning-up of ten puppies ranging in age from 3 to 7 weeks, as well as ensuring that the two adult females in heat were well exercised and that their kennels were kept clean, I was amazed to see that I had clocked over 18,000 steps! After Vespers, supper, and helping to wash (humans’) dishes, I was ready for nothing more than to collapse in bed. Soon, however, I began to settle into the rhythm of the monastery. Matins and Vespers bracketed each day, and fortified by a delicious meal at noon, I discover