Carmelite Nun

Today I went, for the first time, to a Carmelite monastery.  Six nuns live there in seclusion.  Their job, apparently, is to pray for the world.  I gave the sister some soup and tortillas through the wooden turnstyle.   She spoke kindly and answered questions through the black grating.  I could not see her. 

I asked her why Catholics talk so much about saints.  She said the saints are like members of our family.

I asked her about reading scripture.  She said that they read scripture seven times daily plus she reads on her own.  When I asked her what her favorite scripture was, she had to think and then mentioned the first part of St. John.  

What would it be like to be cloistered for life behind bars as a Carmelite nun, reading scripture seven times daily, praying for the world and getting food through a wooden turnstyle?  She was very excited about the food that I brought.

Trees

"I am like a green olive tree in the house of God." 

Those around me are trees, also, bearing fruit in season. 

I became accustomed to enjoying the sweet fruit of one close to me. The tree, now mature, is bearing fruit that only others can enjoy.  I feel angry and hurt that the fruit which I had come to love and depend upon is no longer there for me . 

Perhaps the fruit will be borne again for me one day, or perhaps the fruit is meant now for another.  Give me strength, Lord. Make me The Giving Tree....