What Is New This Fall?

 

By Sister Cecelia

September 1 begins the Orthodox liturgical new year, and that made think of all the NEW things that have happened and will happen in the near future. It is new that the foliage is not very spectacular this year. That is the first for me in over 50 years!

For the first time, the eleven apple trees in our orchard produced only one apple because of the late freeze in the spring. For the first time, the three hazelnut trees bore nuts—and with a very bountiful crop. We will roast our own hazelnuts for the first time. It will be a tasty treat.

In October the monks welcomed their second novice this year, and that is a welcome new sight.

The nuns have recently received several inquiries seeking monastic life—so, new faces soon, perhaps.

New faces reminds me that in September a beautiful well-mannered German Shepherd named Tori was lent to me to care for as long as she is in the breeding program.  Our walks are energized by her running gracefully through the fields chasing and carrying a big red ball.

Our fall retreat had a new twist this year, as it was aimed specifically for the Companions of New Skete. The retreat was both live and attended by Zoom for those who couldn’t make it here. New activities began, too, for them, with reading and once-a-month Zoom discussions of Bread & Water, Wine & Oil by Archimandrite Meletios Webber.   

While I usually paint icons on request, it was new that I was given an icon someone else had started but did not intend to finish. The gesso preparation and drawing were complete, and the halo was gilded. The drawing was of a woman saint holding a scroll. Having no idea who the intended saint was, I did a lot of research.  Saint Elizabeth, mother of John the Baptist, was one of the few icons I discovered of a woman with an open scroll. I put this icon project on the back burner for a long time, but finally a segment of time allowed me to complete the icon. It is newly finished, and I hope it will be a new addition to bless the home of someone who has a felt reverence for the mother of John the Baptist.

The trust and faith of Saint Elizabeth is a model for all of us as we deal with all the difficulties—war, hatred, chaos—besetting the world at large and even closer to home.  It seems to be the labor of a lifetime to acquire the path to true wisdom: the unconditional acceptance of reality in all its contradictory complexity.  This wisdom is the kind of understanding that comes from experience and from empathy. It is not merely the fruit of knowledge and science. It is the gift of discernment that distinguishes what is whole from whatever is tainted by untruth, unfreedom, or inhumanity. This wisdom leads to the nonpossessive embrace of whatever is good, noble, and honorable.