Experience with a retreatant
One day about two years ago we had a retreatant here who stood out among the others. She was perhaps in her late forties or early fifties, intelligent, with some piercings and a number of small tattoos on her arms. We talked a couple of times and I always found her a very interesting person to converse with. She was Jewish, but on a path seeking for a deeper relationship with the Infinite. She did tell me that she has never forgotten her Jewish roots, loved her faith tradition, but was still seeking by her studies of other faiths.
As we talked I did mention her tattoos and made a remark on a few of them. I have studied other religions; so I understood what the symbols stood for. She had a very interesting life in her seeking for the truth. I also talked about my faith and my seeking as well to my desire for an deeper relationship with the Infinite. We talked about Jesus and my own Catholic/Christian faith. She listened intently to what I had to share She told me how much she loved it at the Monastery and promised that she was going to come back for another retreat.
She came back a year later. To my surprise she told me that she was just baptized into the Catholic faith and she was very happy about that. She felt that she had come home at last and was at peace. As we talked she asked me about her tattoos, what she should do with them. I thought about it and responded:
“I think you should keep them. They are after all sign post telling others as well as yourself about your spiritual journey. For all seekers, God is with us from the beginning until the end. If people ask you about them you can tell them about your seeking and finding’.
Many people come here. Each with a different story, yet each being led by the Spirit of God I believe, as they seek to find the meaning of life and a deeper relationship with God.
People are beautiful, important, all images of God, needing to be embraced and listened to. I believe that we each have something important to say, each has a way of using language that can be helpful to others, each slant on life based on hard earned experience.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
