day 29: groton, SD

this is another tiny public library: the bookshelves give way to the town offices. there are two friendly women--civil servants both--sitting at the semi-circular children's table stuffing envelopes. on the shelf above the computer here are the last two decades' legion baseball trophies, groton t-shirts and caps for sale, and a special shelf for the entire harry potter series.

tom and i have spent the last day and half at the Blue Cloud Abbey, a wonderful Benedictine community hidden in the rolling hills of eastern south dakota. the hospitality these men showed to us is hard to describe: all were very concerned that we had enough to eat, generously answered our questions, and even blessed our bikes and our journey. the much-needed day of rest was everything i had hoped for; we had ample time for quiet reflection, a swim in the lake with fr. michael the organist, and A NAP. br. sebastian, the guestmaster, took tom and i on a hike to the small camp that the abbey owns. 66 years old and approaching the 50th anniversary of his vows, sebastian led us across the prairie pointing out cowflops and local vegetation: buckbrush, creeping jenny. then he showed us how to hop a fence with grace.

it was difficult to leave after breakfast this morning. today is the abbot's feast day, so there was a celebratory atmosphere in the abbey: br. paul made special eggs over-easy and conversation was permitted; the refectory was quickly filled with good-natured barbs and bursts of laughter. these men are seeking God's peace, and they are doing a wonderful job of sharing that peace with their guests. talking with br. benet about his writing, watching br. paul close his eyes, incline his ear to something i couldn't hear and sing the psalms from memory, having more and more food pressed into our hands for today's lunch: i feel blessed to have had this opportunity to put our very very short journey in perspective. rolando, a brother at a guatemalan monastery visiting blue cloud for the year, sent us off by gently grasping our hands and stressing each syllable of beautifully broken english: "God.........with....you. God....with you." i almost cried. no verb was needed to complete that phrase: for these brothers, God is a verb.