I flew into Louisville on a seering hot Friday, and within minutes was driving down to Trappist, KY, the home of the Abbey of Gethsemani - the oldest monastery in the US. My goal - to spend a four-day silent retreat and evaluate my life, backward and forward.
I came across the web page of the Abbey by Googling for something else - which is how I find all kinds of great stuff. It seemed perfect - no pressure, no activities, no talking. It's Catholic, but I found several blogs and reviews by people who, like me, are not members of that denomination. It's a completely open, loving facility.
I arrived at lunchtime, and found a note at the front desk that instructed retreatants to go have lunch, then come back to check in. I walked into the silent dining room and saw people eating in silence - one to a table - staring out the window into a lovely garden. In a way, the people in the dining room were also like a garden - each person very different, coming to the retreat with very different goals, thoughts, problems, lives.
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