cowley magazine summer 2012

Volume 38 • Number 4 Summer 2012

©2012 by The Society of Saint John the Evangelist, North America

Cover photo:The Bread of Heaven, Palm Sunday 2012.

IN THIS ISSUE:

In the seventh Monastic Wisdom for Everyday Living article, Br. Eldridge Pendleton explores the richness of the fundamental act of Christian worship: the Eucharist.

Br. Mark Brown finds in Eucharistic hymns the diversity and unity of the church.

Br. Curtis Almquist invites us to a practice of gratitude.

The Brothers have much to be thankful for, and Br. David Vryhof gives voice to the Community’s gratitude.

Br. Robert L’Esperance unveils the plan for the cloister garden.

We asked the interns, “What will you take away from the Monastery?” After nine months, they share their experiences of self-discovery, silence, and love in the internship program.

Does everyone have a vocation? In an interview, Br. Geoffrey Tristram shares the story of his own awakening to his vocation.

Update your address with us or offer someone a gift subscription of Cowley magazine. See the postcard inside. To remove your name from our physical mailing list and sign up

for our electronic mailing list, please call 617.876.3037x55, or email [email protected].

To follow the latest news from the Brothers, visit www.SSJE.org where you can listen to weekly sermons, subscribe to “Brother, Give Us a Word,” hear audio selections from Holy

Week, and view photo galleries of the Monastery and Emery House.

Letter from the Superior | 2011 Bishop Visitor’s ReportLetter from the Fellowship | Voices of Friends | Community News

We welcome hearing your thoughts on this issue of Cowley. Visit www.SSJE.org/cowleymagazine

to share comments, ask questions, or see Cowley in color.

3

Dear Members of the Fellowship of Saint John and other Friends

A Letter from the Superior

Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE

I’ve been praying for some time over words of our founder, Richard Meux

Benson: “If only we can show people that we are living upon a truth and loving it, they will soon catch the life.” ‘They will soon catch the life.’ Life is something that we have been experienc-ing here at the Monastery in new and wonderful ways. This Easter has been so full of new life for us, and it’s been mirrored in the trees, which have been in flower for such a long a time here in Massachusetts. In the same way, I feel that we are in a season now, in our Community, full of new life and hope. Our world is really flowering.

Everywhere we look, we see cause for gratitude. It’s been so good to be back at home together and to have restored our cycle of prayer and preach-ing. Throughout Holy Week and Easter, the Chapel was filled as never before, for service after service. Our Saturday morning workshops and Tuesday evening Eucharist are well-attended, with many students present. There seems to be life

We were delighted to receive five new members into the Fellowship of Saint John during the Festival Eucharist of Saint John’s Day on May 5.

breaking out everywhere. Our online ministry also continues

to blossom. Nearly four thousand people now begin each day with a prayer from our online devotional “Brother, Give Us a Word.” I urge you to invite your friends to our website, so that they can subscribe as well. Through Lent and Holy Week this year, as you may know, we launched 49 one- to two-minute vid-eos as part of a series called “A Frame-work for Freedom,” designed to help our friends create a rule of life. We heard from people from all over the world about these videos; some two thousand people subscribed! I recently heard from a man who knew SSJE many years ago, but who went to live in Auckland, New Zealand. He’s just reconnected with us because of that online ministry.

As we reconnect with friends from beyond the Monastery, God has blessed us in many ways during this past year, in bringing new friends to the Monastery. We are delighted to have received four new men as postulants in our Society,

4 SSJE

Geoffrey Tristram SSJESuperior

Faithfully,

and we recently celebrated the profes-sion in initial vows of our novice Luke, in early June. So too, we’re encouraged by the number of men who are con-tacting us as they actively consider the religious life. At the end of May, we bid goodbye to our five year-long interns, who have contributed greatly to our ongoing ministry at the Monastery and Emery House. It’s been wonderful to have them with us, as they’ve enriched our lives so much. You can read reflec-tions on their time with us in the pages of this Cowley.

As summer comes to Cambridge and West Newbury, we continue to turn our thoughts to the outdoor life of the two beautiful properties that have been entrusted to our care. At Emery House, work continues with Mass Audubon and Essex County Greenbelt Associa-tion on conservancy planning, and with other advisors on growing food, on solar energy, on energy-efficient buildings, and on creating a place that invites friends and visitors to celebrate and feel a part of the wonder of Creation. We are thinking and praying together about how to advance and develop our life and

ministry at Emery House. And at the Monastery, we recognize

that the gardens are in need of help. You may know that the cloister garden was completely destroyed by the year of construction and renovations. We have established a capital campaign, ‘Green & Light,’ to raise funds to renovate the Fletcher Steele garden on the Guest-house side of the Monastery, and to establish in the cloister a woodland gar-den that will have color throughout the year, using native species, and providing sanctuary for birds and other wildlife. Br. Robert L’Esperance shares the vision for this new garden in his article “Return to Eden” in these pages. I’m very pleased to say that we have already raised well over half the total needed to complete this exciting project.

There is so much new life springing up around us and within us, and for it all our overwhelming response is gratitude: gratitude to God for having given us so much; gratitude to Fellowship members and Friends for having supported the renovations of the Monastery by prayers, encouragement, and gifts; gratitude for the blessings of our life together, which we experience every time we come together to celebrate the Eucharist. This whole issue of Cowley revolves around Eucharist and gratitude, and we Brothers are full of gratitude for all that you give to us and the many ways in which you support us in our life and our ministry together.

Do spread the good news: We are flourishing; summer is coming; there is the joy of Easter and new life all around us. Thank you for helping us and others to ‘catch the life.’ Alleluia!

Br. James tends new life in the gardens at Emery House.

The Society of Saint John the Evangelist 5

I’ll spare you the hilarious picture of me arriving for my recent four-day retreat

at SSJE with a duffel bag packed with six shirts, three pair of pants, three sweaters, multiple pairs of shoes, and a knapsack stuffed with a computer, two theology books, a thick volume of poetry and a journal. (I was confident they’d have a Bible and BCP.) Did I think that I would change my clothes for each Office?

Or spend all four days reading? Had I planned on writing some great sequel to the Dark Night of the Soul?

I’ll spare you the details of the gyrations of my mind – you know, the wildly spinning thoughts that usually come with too much coffee, but in this case, are induced by the closing off of usual stimuli – people, books, music, TV, internet, work – and the introduction of something novel: silence, simplicity, space to breathe.

I’ll spare you these details because if you’ve ever been on retreat, you might understand. And if you think that someday you might want to go on retreat, I wouldn’t want to frighten you off with my clumsy attempts at the spiritual life that feel, most days, more like wet corduroy chafing between my chubby thighs than golden silk, skimming over a lithe body.

God shows up. In fact, God – it seems – is there the whole while. And God is about as beautiful and sly as a chameleon that changes color in order to be camouflaged.

God is in the gentle gaze and smile of recognition from an old monk who, years ago, heard your first confession (and offered absolution, than God).

God is in the firm and funny words of the preacher who reminds us of the words of the desert father who said,

A Letter from the FSJ

The Rev. Audrey Scanlan

God Shows Up

6 SSJE

the vegetable curry and in the date nut bread spread thickly with real butter.

And God is in the worship – per-fumed with incense, strung together with the liquid chants of ancient times, popu-lated by the faithful, and a delight for the eye in stained glass, swirls of marble and soft brown wooden stalls. Yes, God’s in the Communion Bread and the Cup, too. But we already knew that.

So, I’ll spare you the details, but assure you: God is alive and well in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

“Your cell will teach you everything. Now go there and shut up.”

God is in the silence of the room and in the rushing traffic bearing com-muters on Memorial Drive – the world moves so quickly!

God is in the glint of the early morning sun on the Charles and in the taut muscles of the crew team, pulling their oars in shells that glide across the water. They make it look so easy.

God is in the fragrant and generous bowls of couscous and the miso soup and

A Letter from the FSJ

Join us for one of our upcoming Come & See Weekends

October 25 – 28 • June 6 – 9

Contact us at [email protected].

Thinking about your future?


The Gift of Gratitude

David Vryhof, SSJE

Life Becomes Rich

Life has become rich for us Brothers at SSJE. We are mindful, more than

ever now, of how much we have received from our supporters and benefactors and, by your hands, from God, who has in-spired your generosity to us. In particular we are grateful for:

Our renovated Monastery. It was only a few years ago that we were won-dering if we would be able to stay in this beautiful Monastery, which was desper-ately in need of costly renovations. The generosity of our Friends and benefac-tors (including so many members of the Fellowship of Saint John) has enabled us to remain in this sacred place, so ideally situated for the type of ministry we do and so hallowed by the prayers of many Brothers and countless guests and visi-tors over the years.

Our employees and volunteers. We simply could not provide the ministry we do without the help of our very creative and dedicated staff, and scores of others who advise us or contribute in other ways to our life and work. We are acutely aware of being part of the Body of Christ, with its many parts all working together.

“In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. It is very easy to overestimate the importance of our own achievements in comparison with what we owe others.”

– Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison (1943-45)

Our postulants and interns. In our Rule of Life we say, “New members bring with them the promise of new life for our brotherhood.” New life has come to us in the persons of our five interns this year and in the four new men who have entered the Community since January. They have enriched our common life by their energy, enthusiasm, and good cheer, and by the many gifts they bring.

Yes, life has become rich for us Brothers at SSJE. Our hearts are over-flowing with gratitude. As Christians we try to express our gratitude to God primarily in two ways: in our worship and in loving service. Worship is the foundation of our common life. We gather in the Chapel several times each day to offer our praise and thanksgiving and to pray for the needs of the Church and the world. We also celebrate the Holy Eucharist – that “sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving” which the Book of Common Prayer reminds us is “the principal act of Christian worship” – six days a week. “Eucharist” means “to give thanks.” The chief end of our worship, then, is to express our gratitude to God – in words and in music and in movement.

8 SSJE

Gratitude is also the reason for a life of service. With the Psalmist we ask, “How shall I repay the Lord for all the good things he has done for me?” This is our answer: Let me serve God by serving others; let me give what I have received.

Thomas Merton, a Trappist monk of the last century, once wrote:

“To be grateful is to recognize the love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything. Ev-ery breath we draw is a gift of His love, every moment of existence is a grace .... Gratitude therefore takes nothing for granted, is never unresponsive, is con-stantly awakening to new wonder and to the praise of the goodness of God. For the grateful person knows that God is good, not by hearsay but by experience. And that is what makes all the differ-ence .... We live in constant dependence upon this merciful kindness of the Father and thus our whole life is a life of grati-

tude – a constant response to His help which comes to us at every moment.”

“Our whole life is a life of gratitude,” said Merton. If this is true, how can we cultivate a spirit of gratitude? Here are some suggestions:• By deepening our awareness of the beauty and grace already present in our daily lives.• By noticing acts of kindness and compassion. • By leaving judgment to God. • By keeping alive our sense of wonder at the world and its inhabitants. • By looking for signs of God’s presence and activity in our own lives and in the lives of others. • By recalling what we owe others. • By listening, watching, expectantly. • By praying the “General Thanks- giving” every day (Book of Common Prayer, p.101).

Cultivate gratitude: “By keeping alive our sense of wonder at the world.”

The Brothers are so grateful to the volunteers who help us in our work and worship, as well as to those Friends and benefactors who support our life and ministry.


There are many paths that lead to gratitude, and to God.

I came across a story recently about a woman Zen master named Sono who taught one very simple method of enlightenment. She advised everyone who came to her to adopt an affirmation to be said many times a day, under all conditions. The affirmation was, “Thank you for everything. I have no complaint whatsoever.”

According to the story, many people from all arenas of life came to Sono for healing. Some were in physical pain, others were emotionally distraught, others had financial troubles, some were seeking the liberation of their souls. No matter what their distress or what ques-tion they asked her, her response was

always the same: “Thank you for every-thing. I have no complaint whatsoever.” Some people went away disappointed, others grew angry, others tried to argue with her. Yet some people took her sug-gestion to heart and began to practice it. Tradition tells us that everyone who practiced Sono’s mantra found peace and healing. (The story comes from an essay by Alan Cohen.)

Sono knew the way to profound peace and joy was through gratitude. Hers is a practice you might adopt for a day, for a week or for a lifetime. Notice the changes that come as we become aware of gratitude, the realization that we have been given a gift. Truly, life becomes rich.

10 SSJE

Robert L’Esperance, SSJE

Return to Eden

“The man and his wife heard the sound of Yahweh God walking in the garden in the cool of the day…” – Genesis 3:8

Soon after the Monastery’s renova-tion began in July 2010, it became

obvious that there wasn’t going to be much left of the old Cloister garden. With changes in shade patterns from the large plane trees along Memorial Drive, the garden already had been in a state of decline. Then, since the Monastery sits on a relatively small plot of land, the old garden soon became a staging area for the project. Scaffolding, electrical conduit, heating and ventilation piping, copper plumbing pipe, plywood, drywall, granite blocks, brick, mechanical and tool storage cabinets all had a presence at one point or another. There was lots of foot traffic from contractors, laborers, electrician, plumbers, HVAC install-ers. In short, the garden was no longer a garden.

In August, 2010, shortly after we had moved out of the Monastery for the duration of the renovation and our annual Community retreat, the Brothers made a trip to “Garden in the Woods” located in Framingham, about twenty miles west of Boston. None of us were

prepared for what we would see there: a spectacular woodland garden first begun in the 1930s and entirely populated of native plants species. It was that trip that allowed us to re-imagine what the cloister garden might become.

This afternoon, as I look at the old cloister garden I am delighted to see what remains. With a barrier erected to create a “no man’s land” during con-struction staging we were able to save two magnificent American dogwoods

Br. Robert and a friend at work in the cloister garden before the renovations.

The cloister garden became a construction zone during the renovations.


chosen to provide rhododendron blos-soms and color from spring through late summer. There will be some grass plant-ing, but only native varieties and no real “lawn” area. We are learning that large plantings of fescue grasses are both un-natural and ecologically problematic.

The garden presents us with what must be one of the greatest of blessings: to be the best possible stewards of our land. Our vision is that the garden be life-sustaining. Native plants require minimal watering, are naturally heat-, drought-, insect-, and disease-resistant. In a meaningful way, the cloister’s ber-ries, water, and shelter will provide a welcome place for wild birds one might meet in the Eastern low-land forests or nearby Mount Auburn Cemetery, as well as crickets and katydids.

We Brothers are convinced that the opportunity to be caretakers of the earth is not only a mandate from our Creator, but one of God’s greatest gifts. Today, this call to be stewards comes with a sense of urgency. We are learn-ing that Earth itself is a living organism, something so-called “primitive” people have known instinctively but which we somehow seem to have forgotten. Em-bracing that realization makes us, both at the Monastery in Cambridge and at our rural property, Emery House, most at one with our hearts and better selves. Here is a posture that allows us to sustain life, while wishing all of the creation well.

as well as male and female American holly bushes. There also is a beautiful Japanese maple. A couple of heroic tulips have made a springtime return as testament to the power of resurrection.

I took the Community’s dream of a native species woodland garden to my dear friend, Patrick Smith. Patrick is a walking native plant encyclopedia. He is also sensitive to ecological issues and naturalistic garden design. Patrick pre-sented the Community with a vision to create a space that will clean the air and provide oxygen, sustain birds and other wildlife, and provide year-round color, architectural interest, noise abatement, and topographical interest, using organi-cally grown, native plantings.

The plan is to create an under-story of trees with relatively dense plantings of native shrubs with paths winding their way through the under-story. All the trees have been carefully selected for site compatibility (the right plant in the right place is the motto), spring and fall color, fruit production for both human and wildlife consumption, and natural archi-tecture. The under-story will consist of service berry, pawpaw, ironwood, old-man’s beard, sweet bay magnolia, and red bud, a variety of witch hazel, to name only a few of the seventeen different trees planned. Shrubs under consider-ation include southern bush honeysuck-le, drooping leucothoe, native viburnum, spice bush, and mountain laurel, and many different rhododendron specifically

The cloister garden today.

12 SSJE

Curtis Almquist, SSJE

Your life will be transformed if you awaken to each new day as a gift,

rather than as a given. The new day is not an accident. The new day is teem-ing with the signs and sustenance of God’s presence, and promise, and provi-sion. You may have only as much as one more day to know God, to love God, and to serve God, which Saint Ignatius of Loyola defines as the “Foundation and First Principle” of the reflective Chris-tian life in his Spiritual Exercises. Don’t miss a moment of it. First and foremost, we are a human being before we are a human doing. Before you set off doing all that needs to get done in the day, make sure you have the right posture. Get your bearings; find your center; remind yourself how to be. How do you wish to be? The answer I would give is: Be grateful. Don’t miss the opportunity to

pray and savor your gratitude for what is so clearly good in life. Start now and start small. If you awakened this morn-ing to your alarm clock, be thankful that you can hear, that you have eye- and hand-coordination to reach out. If you arose from your bed without assistance, be thankful. If fresh, potable water is available, be thankful. If you can look outside your window, whether you see sunshine or rain, beauty or sadness, be thankful for the miracle of your eyesight. If you can sit upright in a chair without having to be strapped in, be thankful. If you can drink a cup of tea using your own hand, be thankful. If you are con-tinent, be thankful. If you can breathe without mechanical assistance, be thank-ful. This could be a way of your “praying without ceasing.”

“Don’t miss the opportunity to savor your gratitude for what is so clearly good in life.’’

A Posture and a Practice

Living Gratefully


of Christ who is at work within us and around us now.

Say “Yes” to the life you’ve been given, to the hand you’ve been dealt. Many people wake up to discover that the script they’ve been handed in the play of life is not the part they thought they were trying out for. To live in gratitude is to accept how little of life is actually within our own control. This is an acknowledgment that God will be God, that it is God’s world on God’s time, and that we are God’s creatures, alive according to God’s good pleasure. God operates; we co-operate. Living a yes is to accept the good gifts of life that actually are there, free of resentment for what is not there, or no longer there.

Practicing gratitude will not take away the many challenges and suffering you face in life. But claiming the weight of gratitude for the wonder of living will re-balance the scale of your life. Prac-ticing gratitude will put your life’s very real difficulties in a new light. Even in the most sorry times of life, claiming, clinging to what abides that is still so amazingly good, will put a lilt to your gait, encouragement to your heart, light to your countenance. Truly.

We celebrate the Holy Eucharist as a living reminder and template of how to live our lives all the time: eucharistically. The word “Eucharist” comes from the Greek, meaning “great thanksgiving.” It’s not that we live very ordinary, hori-zontal lives, and then have these special liturgical occasions to create a “spiritual moment,” a fleeting, transcendent expe-rience of God, to then return to our or-dinariness. When we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, we are reminded of the real presence of Christ, who is really present in the ordinary present. For us to stay in touch with the presence that is present requires practice. For this practice we don’t need a special cushion on which to sit, nor a special lamp to light, nor a special icon on which to gaze, nor special incense to smell, nor special prayer beads to finger, nor a special prayer or mantra to recite. None of that is in any way bad or inappropriate. It may well help. It is simply not enough. What is enough is here and now. The Psalmist reminds us, “This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it” (Ps 118: 24). Gratitude consecrates our life and labor and makes us real, and makes us really present to the real presence

“To live in gratitude is to accept how little of life is actually within our own control.”

14 SSJE

How to Live GratefullySavor your life.Take time to remember and reclaim what is so amazingly good in your life. Consider this: At the conclusion of a recital, or concert, or play, the audience typically applauds, sometime with great enthusiasm and bravos. Why? It’s not that the playbill either designates or requires this response from the audi-ence. Nor is the applause primarily an act of courtesy toward the performers. Rather, the audience needs to express their gratitude because the experience would otherwise be incomplete. And so for you, personally. Complete the daily chapters of your life by remembering and appreciating what has been so very good.

Express your gratitude.Expressing your gratitude to another person is a transformative experience, for the speaker and hearer alike. People are so easily taken for granted. Whether they be people whose labor is menial or whose labor is in leadership, people are so easily taken for granted. You change their day, perhaps change their life, by expressing your gratitude for who they are and what they do. Thank-ing people is a eucharistic action, and it is as transformative as the prayer of thanksgiving we pray over bread and wine at the altar.

Pray your gratitude.We have been created in the image of God. God longs to be thanked at least as much as we do. The Psalmist asks rhetorically, “How shall I repay the LORD for all the good things he has done for me?” (Ps 116:10). Start with gratitude. Express your life’s gratitude to God. Before you ask God for anything, say thank you.

Keep your ears open.People will want to thank you. Let them. They need to speak their gratitude; you need to hear it. Respond to them, “You are welcome,” and say it from the bottom of your heart. And keep your ears open to hear God’s gratitude for you. There is no one else like you, God knows. You are the apple of God’s eye. You make God’s day. God cannot get enough of you, and has made plans to share eternity with you.

“Clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful.” – Colossians 3:14-15


The Eucharist in SongMark Brown, SSJE

If “do this in remembrance of me” is the most obeyed “commandment,”

as Dom Gregory Dix once said, a close second is “sing to the Lord a new song.” And the Hymnal 1982, used in most Episcopal churches (and at least one Roman Catholic monastery), is a good place to start to get a sense of the sheer quantity and scope of music composed for the Eucharist.

A quick scan of the footnotes of the 300s section of the Hymnal – and the Eu-charist section of the Service Music – is both international tour and time travel. Music and texts from nearly every century from the start of it all, and an astonishingly broad geographical spread: England, France, Greece, United States, Wales, Italy, Germany, Syria, Ireland, Slovakia, China, Canada, Austria, Rus-sia and Spain. The Hymnal generally, not to mention the various supplements, adds yet further richness to the treasury: Scotland, the Netherlands, Bohemia, Finland, Ghana, Ukraine, Sweden, and more.

And, of course, within each of the various national treasuries of music there are tremendous varieties of styles and ethnicities. “American,” for example, includes Native American, African-American, and a multiplicity of other immigrant sources: Puritan, Shaker, Moravian, Scandinavian, etc. We also have music and texts from the Jewish traditions.

What we find in our own hymnal and supplements is, of course, but a fraction (if a good cross section) of the music written for the Eucharist, glob-ally speaking. It is probably fair to say that more music has been written (and improvised or passed down orally) for the Eucharist than for any other single human “happening.” No other thing that human beings do has been the inspiration for so much musical art. And speaking of “art,” we remember also the masses and Eucharistic music of the great composers: Bach, Haydn, Mozart, Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Faure, Verdi, Durufle, Messiaen, and many oth-ers. Much of this music is heard more in concerts than in liturgies, yet the source of the inspiration is the Eucharist. Music for the Eucharist, extending back over a thousand years, is at the heart of the vast treasury of Western music.

The very heart of the Christian mes-sage is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus; the Eucharist is its sacramental continuation. The message is a fire with the power to leap across every fence, every boundary of geography, language, and ethnicity. We can’t “time travel” to the future, but one thing we can bet on: Yet more new songs will be sung to the Lord. In the meantime we can sing our songs, and not ours only, but the songs of the whole world. And so we find our unity in Christ erupting in song.

“What he did at supper seated Christ ordained to be repeated His memorial n’er to cease.”

– Thomas Aquinas (1225-74); Hymnal 1982, #320

16 SSJE

Brs. James, Curtis, and Mark, along with interns, Cassandra Swick, Tedi Davidson, and Nancy VanderBrink, singing in the Chapel during Holy Week.


My internship with SSJE at Emery House has been an unparalleled

experience – life-enriching to say the least. Amidst the quiet offered by the beautiful grounds of Emery House and the wisdom circulating among all of the Brothers, I have caught a glimpse of what it means when people use the phrase, “find yourself.” I recently reflected to a friend this very idea, telling her that I think that phrase is misleading: You hear about people going off to foreign lands to “find themselves,” as if they are going geocaching and the person they are to be will be waiting at some coordinate, or received like a nicely packaged parcel. But what I have found here, in the balanced flow of monastic life, is that every day when you wake up you are finding yourself, and you have to look. It’s hard work. I have found I constantly have to remind myself that I have to fight for who I truly am. This place has been host to a me I’ve never known before.

When I signed on for this internship I came with the intention of learning about both agriculture and a new form of Christianity that I had never been exposed to before. I had no idea that I would learn so much about myself. At such a vital time in my life – having just

Tedi Davidson

graduated college and frankly having no idea what the next step would be – I couldn’t have come to a more suitable place. Spending nine months at one of the most beautiful sites I’ve had the honor of being invited to, among some of the wisest souls I’ve met, following the most balanced routine I’ve ever had, completely shifted my mode of thought and planning. It has made me stop and pay attention. Before, while my intentions were in a good place, my priorities and methods of discernment were anything but sustainable. In fact, I had no idea what the word “discernment” even meant, much less how to go about doing such a thing. I just thought, “Well I have an education which has put me in debt so now I have to make some money. Uh, how do I do that?” Well, I have learned in my time here a wholistic approach to such a question, one that encompasses attentiveness to my own needs, desires, and ambitions, in the context of a realistic and meaningful life. Though my position as intern is only temporary, the bonds I have built here are never ending. This place and the people I have met will occupy a permanent spot in my heart.

“A me I’ve never known before”

Reflecting on the Internship Experience

18 SSJE

I remember a question the Superior asked me during the phone interview

that preceded my being accepted into the internship program: “What do you most fear about coming to the Monastery?” My answer: “The silence.”

Silence has always been hard for me, not just because I’m an extrovert by nature, but because silence can say so many things, and trying to figure out what it is saying has made me nervous and left me feeling alone and isolated.

So, silence being a major part of life here was something it took me a while to get used to. I’ve discovered that you, in fact, learn quite a lot about people when you’re not talking to them. Reading body language is hard for me, but big gestures and facial expressions – when I’m close enough to see them – are things I’ve gotten a little better about interpreting.

I’ve also noticed that, at least for me, silence is what I make of it. Since I can’t with certainty tell what one particular silence means, I can decide how I feel about it. Do I feel left out, or do I take the silence as an opportunity to think through some things that have been bouncing around? Or do I simply just be? It’s amazing the freedom that silence gives you: It’s all in what you make of it.

The attempt to simply “be” is something that came up in my very first session of spiritual direction back in September, and which has stayed

with me the entire time I’ve been here. I think it’s one of the things I’m packing in my bag to take home with me. “Don’t do anything. Just sit there.” Whoa. Now, that was counter to almost everything I’d heard my entire life.

Over the past few months I’ve also learned that simply “sitting there,” simply being for a time, does not mean ignoring my responsibilities. Rather it means that when I’ve completed everything that is required of me, I shouldn’t just find things to do to fill the silent and/or boring spaces. Instead, embrace them, sit with them. I’ve come to call these times “the time when I hang out with Jesus.” I’ve also learned that, during these times, I don’t have to have an agenda, I don’t have to know what I’m going to say, I don’t have to say anything, I can just sit. Distraction characterized that space for me for a long time, and even still I find my mind wandering at times, but I’m getting more confident in my ability to bring myself back.

And sometimes, when distraction comes, I’ll offer up a prayer, “So, there’s obviously something I’m worried about, would you help me work on that, even though I don’t know what it is?” See, I’ve also discovered that I don’t have to be so preoccupied about praying the “right” way or using a particular method. Sometimes just sharing a jumble of confused emotions feels as valid to me as a well-thought-out prayer, and probably more honest.

I know I’ve unpacked some bags and worked them through while I’ve been here. And I’m packing up some things to take away with me. I’m not sure if I’m taking more or less away, but for me it doesn’t matter; it’s leaving myself open to this experience that’s been most important.

Nancy VanderBrink

“Silence is what I make of it”



At the end of many retreats I have been on, I have been asked to distill

the time into a short reflection. Some-times this is called “graces” or “contem-plation time.” At one camp I attended, which is beautifully situated on a mountain in Eastern Kentucky, we were asked, “What will you take with you off the mountain?” This is partly a physical description, but it is also an allusion to the Transfiguration of Jesus, where he and a few disciples are brought face to face with God and themselves, and are forever changed. That is what has hap-pened at the Monastery this year. I have been brought face to face with God and have been changed.

So, what will I take with me off of this mountain? It may actually be impossible to relate what will be taken with me. I know that I have been transformed. From a new appreciation of the Gospel of John, to a deepened prayer life, to the creativity the Brothers fostered and encouraged in me, I know that I am changed. But how? The Psalmist says that “the human heart is a mystery,” and I would add that the changes to the human heart are even more mysterious.

Then, perhaps the “how” is not so important, and the “why” is truly what I’m after.

Why have I been transformed? Because I was loved. From the first

hour I arrived, I was loved fearlessly and courageously. The Brothers, the staff, the congregation, all of them took a leap of faith and loved me and all my fellow interns, wall to wall, foibles and all. On good days and bad, in the midst of conflict and tranquility, there was never a lack of love and encouragement. It was in this love that grace was found. It was in this never-failing environment of love that I climbed up to the mountain top. And it was with these Brothers and this assembly, that I came to experience the ever-flowing waterfall of God’s Grace. There, I saw a vision of a world transfigured into the City of Light. And in that, I was changed. How was I changed? In truth, those changes will only be revealed in God’s time. All I can do is walk down the mountain and take the transformation with me.

And so, like Peter, James and John, and Jesus too, I come back to the question, “What will I take with me off the mountain?” “Faith, Hope and Love – and the greatest of these is Love.” Fearless, graceful, fiery love. As it is written in the Song of Solomon, I will take “a love as strong as death.” And I will let the rest come in God’s good time.

Rob Coulston

“Because I was loved”


20 SSJE

The building renovation obliterated the cloister garden, and the historically significant Guesthouse garden needs repair. Most of the money has been raised. Please consider a gift to help raise the last $100,000 needed for this remaining part of the Monastery renewal. www.SSJE.org/donate

The Brothers’ ministry and Cowley magazine are made possible by the generosity of the Friends of SSJE. Please consider becoming a Friend today by supporting SSJE’s Annual Fund. Thank you for supporting the Brothers, who support so many of us in our life in Christ.

Support SSJE

Why SSJE? Because I have faith that the church of the future will look more like SSJE. In the worship, there is no cult of personality, no “ownership” over the pulpit. The liturgy and lessons are shared and we, “Friends,” receive the benefit of the collective wisdom of the Community. The sanctuary and worship is a wonderful blend of ancient spiritual sounds, smells, and practices combined with a 21st century gospel that demonstrates the necessity and relevance of Jesus. SSJE’s worship is a model of hospitality for the rest of the church. I am always welcomed and nourished. – Ella Davila Auchincloss

Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts

“Taken at the Flood” A conversation about vocation

with Br. Geoffrey Tristram


“Taken at the Flood” A conversation about vocation

with Br. Geoffrey Tristram

Q: How old were you when you first started to have a sense of your vocation?When I was about fifteen, somebody I knew mentioned that they wanted to be a monk, and I remember how – though I didn’t even go to church at that time – something about that struck me very deeply. Something inside me said, “That’s what I want to be.” I didn’t really even know what a monk was, but I had this extraordinary sensation that that is what I wanted to be.

I’ve come to realize that vocation is not something God suddenly presents you with, or ‘zaps’ you with, but is rather that which lies at the deepest core of your identity. And there are moments in life when something touches that core, and it resonates. It can happen almost unconsciously. When I heard that person say they wanted to be a monk, I didn’t know much about monks, but something told me, “Oh, that’s what I want to be.”

Q: What did you do with that impulse?Nothing. After the impulse came, I forgot all about it. The time wasn’t right then; it was just an intimation of something that would bear fruit much later in my life. I didn’t even remember the experience until much later.

As I got older, I had a profound experience of religious awakening, and soon after that a very strong sense of vo-cation to be a priest. I remember spend-ing an entire night in prayer, as it were, wrestling with God, and saying “I don’t want to be a priest, this is ridiculous.” But by the morning I had said “Yes” to

22 SSJE

God, and I went to talk that same day to a vocations director about ordination.

As all of this was going on, I started reading Thomas Merton’s Seven Storey Mountain, and Saint Augustine’s Confes-sions, and I slowly became aware that my deepest desire in life was to deepen my relationship with God. As that relation-ship deepened, and as I began to read monastic literature, this core of my being was touched again, in a profound way, and I sensed a real thirst to become a monk. I tried to put it out of my mind, and I remember telling God, “No, I’m not going to do that, but I will be a priest.” Yet I began to visit monasteries, particularly in France and Belgium, and I felt drawn to one Benedictine monastery in Belgium, called Chevetogne. A few years after I was ordained a priest, I went there to test my vocation and spent a year as a novice.

Q: So how did you end up coming to the Monastery?After I left Chevetogne, I spent many years working as a parish priest. When I thought about the religious life, I told myself that I had tried it and it hadn’t worked. In fact, I remember saying to

God, “Well, can you leave me alone now?” In many ways, I thought that it was over, that I must not in fact have a vocation to be a monk. While I still occasionally went on retreats, for many years I really tried not to think about the monastic life, because it was unsettling to me.

Then, in 1997, I decided to visit a friend in Washington D.C. and to make a trip down the East Coast. Someone said to me, “Why don’t you stay at the Monastery of the Society of St. John the Evangelist in Cambridge – it would be an interesting place to visit.” So I went on this trip to America, and came to the Monastery. I went into the Chapel on the day of my arrival, for Evening Prayer, and to my amazement I had a powerful experience of ‘coming home.’ I just knew that this was it. The deepest part of my being had been touched again, but in a really important and decisive way. But I remember thinking to myself, “How can I be home? I’m thousand of miles from home, in a strange country.” And yet it was absolutely clear to me that, some-how, this Monastery was the place I had been looking for. I’d never known it ex-isted and now I was in it, and I thought


to myself: “I have come home.”There’s a real particularity to being

called to the monastic life: You’re never just called to be a monk, but you’re called to be a monk in a particular mo-nastic family. So while I’d visited many monastic communities, in England and Europe, some really lovely communi-ties, I didn’t feel that I was called to any of them. Then when I came to SSJE, I knew that this was the family that I was called to join.

Q: What was the time like between that moment of clarity and coming to the Monastery as a postulant?I went back to England and began to think that all of this was impossible. How could I leave my country, my fam-ily, my job, to go and live thousands of miles away? Moreover, I was actually very happy as a parish priest. I was en-joying my life. In retrospect I think that it’s much better to test a monastic voca-tion from a place where you have a genu-ine choice, a place where you’re choos-ing to test this vocation even though you are happy in your life and work. I think God honors that sort of choice. So while I loved my life as a parish priest, I also knew that, at the Monastery, my deepest core had been touched. And the time was right; I was mature enough to make this step.

Timing is very important in voca-

tion. I often tell people who are inter-ested in the monastic life that vocation is like a fruit on the tree. You don’t want to pluck it too soon, but you don’t want to leave it too late. You need to know the time to pluck it. Knowing the right time is a matter of prayerful discern-ment, of patiently and slowly developing your relationship with God, so that you can hear God prompting you when the time is right. And sometimes that takes a long time, since it happens in God’s time. We often can be very impatient, but God has lots of time.

Q: Once you got to the Monastery, did you ever struggle in accepting your vocation? Some of my early challenges had to do with living in a foreign country. I had assumed that because English is spoken here and in England, it would be easy to adapt. But it was quite challenging re-ally, and I got very, very homesick.

And then, the experience of monas-tic formation itself is very challenging. It asks you, in many ways, to lay down your life. While there’s the promise of receiving it back in a new way from God, it is a painful challenge. As a novice, I struggled every day. It was very difficult, and I often wanted to leave, to be hon-est. But that struggle taught me to live day-by-day, to take each day at a time, and to say “Yes” to God for that single

24 SSJE

day. It’s not helpful to be constantly ask-ing yourself, “Can I do this for the rest of my life?” During the time of formation, you learn that you’re only called to say “Yes” to God for today.

Q: Do you think everyone has a deep purpose, something that they were made to do?I think each of us is unique and created by God for a particular purpose. Each of us has a vocation in life, and we so often know that we’ve discovered it when we experience that feeling of ‘coming alive.’ As Thomas Merton describes it, there are these embers of vocation inside each of us. Occasionally, when we brush up against that purpose for which we were created, those embers are fanned and burst into flame. We have the experi-ence of being fully alive. When I got to this Monastery, I felt an incredible sense that this is what I was made to do in life; that this is who God made me to be; that this is where God was calling me to be. I couldn’t think of anything more wonderful than to spend all my days worshipping and deepening my relation-ship with God in this place.

Q: What advice you would give to someone who was trying to discover his or her vocation?Don’t be anxious: God never stops call-ing us. Stick to your prayers and stick to your ideals. God never gives up on us and God never stops loving us, really.

Sometimes we experience vocation as disturbing us. You know, my experi-ence of coming here to SSJE was like an experience of falling in love, and like falling in love, vocation is not always very convenient! I had to uproot every-thing. But God loves us too much not to disturb us. God wants us to dive down deeply into life, so that we experience life profoundly and abundantly.

God loves us too much to allow us to live our lives in the shallows. In fact, there are some words about this which are very precious to me, and which actually made me come here to the Monastery when I’d all but given up on becoming a monk. The words were given to me by a wonderful nun I used to visit in Oxford. I was telling her about my struggles, and she sent me a card with


these lines from Julius Caesar:

There is a tide in the affairs of men.

Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;

Omitted, all the voyage of their life

Is bound in shallows . . . .

The lines are about the importance of catching the tide. You have to go now, because if not, you’ll miss the chance and risk spending the rest of your life in the shallows. That’s what propelled me here:

Ever wondered if God could be calling you?

Think you might know someone God could be calling?

We welcome men interested in learning about a vocation

to SSJE to visit our website at www.SSJE.org/brother.

I read those lines and thought to myself, “If I don’t do it now, then I’m never going to do it.” My fear of coming here was very real; I was quite frightened. But I was more frightened of not coming, of missing my life, of living the rest of my life in the shallows. I really did have this sense that if I didn’t do this now I was going to miss living my life to the full. It felt like a real question of life and death, a divine imperative: “I must go. I have to do this. This is my vocation. It is most deeply who I am.”

26 SSJE

COMMUNITY NEWS

On May 14, Br. Geoffrey Tristram led a program at Trinity-by-the-Cove, in Naples, Florida.

On Sunday, March 25, we hosted a lecture on the Fletcher Steele Garden, the garden on the Guesthouse side of the Monastery. Lucinda Brockway spoke on “Fletcher Steele’s Monastery Garden: A Place of Quiet Refuge.” Our Green & Light campaign hopes to raise enough funds to restore this formal garden to its original design, as well as to construct a woodland garden, entirely of native plants, in the cloister garden, which was ravaged during the renovations. Contact Mr. Jamie Coats ([email protected]) for additional information.

On April 6th Brother Geoffrey preached the Good Friday “Three Hours Devotions: Meditations upon the Seven Words from the Cross” at the Memorial Church, Harvard University.

On April 14, Brothers celebrated a Mass at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. A Brother presides at this Mass every other year in recognition of Mrs. Gardner, who was an important early friend to the Community and gave SSJE the land on which the Monastery was built.

At Emery House we have the pleasure of welcoming such a wide diversity of guests who come seeking sanctuary, sustenance, inspiration, rest – students and professors; homeless people; church leaders; lawyers, business people, therapists, and physicians; gardeners and naturalists; photographers and poets; and Cub Scouts! On April 15, a local Cub Scout pack visited us to learn about silence, seeing God in all people and all things, and chickens. The pack and

Br. James Koester and a local pack of Cub Scouts at Emery House.

One of our postulants, Jim Woodrum, has brought a wonderful gift of music with him to the Monastery: It’s been a treat to hear his tenor tuba join the organ during special liturgies like Palm Sunday, Easter, and FSJ Day.

The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee preaching during the Festival Eucharist of Saint John’s Day.

The five newest members of the FSJ. Welcome!


their parents left with great smiles and a sampling of fresh eggs.

On April 21, Br. David Vryhof led a Saturday workshop at the Monastery on “The Gift of Intimacy.” The workshop explored intimacy in prayer and suggested how the Beloved Disciple can offer us a model for friendship with God.

On May 5, we celebrated a joyous Saint John’s Day Festival Eucharist at the Monastery. It was a blessing for the whole Community to gather together, along with our five interns, four postulants, and a whole congregation of Friends and Fellowship members, for worship, a meal, and the chance to talk together and explore the renovated Monastery.

We are particularly grateful to our friend, The Rt. Rev. Jeffrey Lee, Bishop of Chicago and member of the Fellowship, for sharing such an inspiring sermon at our FSJ Day Eucharist. To listen to his sermon, visit our website www.SSJE.org/sermons.

Five new members were inducted into the Fellowship during our FSJ Day

celebrations. We are happy to welcome Henry Courtney, John Grillo, Gerone Lockhart, Christine Niles, and Charlie Nichols. For more information on the Fellowship and how to become a member, visit www.SSJE.org/fsj.

We joyously celebrated the Profession in Initial Vows of Br. Luke Ditewig, on June 3. We ask your prayers for God’s blessing on Luke as he journeys forward as a professed member of the Community.

Br. David Vryhof will be leading three separate workshops at Trinity Church, Milford, in May, June, and July.

Brothers Geoffrey Tristram, Mark Brown, and Curtis Almquist will travel to Indianapolis, Indiana, July 4-11, to attend the General Convention of the Episcopal Church.

We look forward to welcoming Kids4Peace back to the Monastery on Sunday, July 15. Last year, twenty-four Kids4Peace Boston participants – along with their adult entourage – filled the Chapel with hope and song on the final day of their two-week program.

28 SSJE

The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, III Philadelphia, PA

2012 Report of theBishop Visitor

Dear Friends of SSJE, May 22nd

Many thanks to everyone who supported the Brothers through the disruption of the renovation and their first full year back in the Monastery.

When Br. Geoffrey became Superior he told me that he was praying over the Society’s Founder, Richard Meux Benson’s words “If only we can show people that we are living upon a truth and loving it, they will soon catch the life.”

The life to which Father Benson refers is the life of the risen Christ in all its many-faceted abundance at work in us, and overflowing into the lives of others. The renovation of the Monastery buildings provides a context and support to the living of that life, and the Community of Brothers, guests and interns are called to be its embodiment. This new season is marked by many positive signs:

New LifeThe reopened Monastery is drawing back good friends and attracting new life. The workshops by Brothers and services on Tuesday evening are well attended, with many students present. SSJE’s online ministry continues to grow with over 3,500 people beginning their day in prayer with “Brother, Give Us a Word.” The Brothers have launched forty-nine one minute videos, “A Framework for Freedom,” to help about 2,000 friends write their own rule of life. The Brothers now have four postulants and one novice and are encouraged by the number of new men actively considering the religious life. In addition the Brothers have welcomed five year-long interns, three women and two men who have contributed greatly to the ongoing life and ministry of the Society. The Brothers continue to visit and minister to churches and dioceses across North America. At Emery House the Brothers are continuing their planning process to enhance the Society’s ministry in West Newbury. Work continues with Mass Audubon and Essex County Greenbelt Association on conservation planning and with other advisors on growing food, solar energy, energy efficient buildings and creating a place that provides friends and visitors with the opportunity to celebrate and be part of the wonder of creation.


Living within the Means of a Balanced BudgetIn the current fiscal year (July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012) SSJE anticipates a balanced budget. Projected operating expenses of $2.1 million are supported by: • Gifts to the Annual Fund: 38% • Guesthouse income: 11% • Other Sources 12% • Spending from Endowment (with a 5% draw) 39%For the upcoming fiscal year beginning July 1st 2012 the Society faces a harder challenge. The addition of new men to the Community, while tremendously positive news, raises certain financial challenges, including increasing the Society’s operating expenses by 5%. This is making the task of achieving a balanced budget a struggle. The Brothers hope that news of new men, new workshops, and new online offerings will bring continued support. The Brothers are also reviewing their expenses – in this they are assisted by the expertise of lay advisors who serve on four fiduciary committees: Financial, Investment, Stewardship, and Building & Grounds. The 2011 audited financial statement reports SSJE in good standing. The Endowment portfolio realized a modest decline year-to-date basically tracking benchmarks set by the Investment Advisors. The Society and its Advisors are committed to an Endowment draw that, in real terms, will provide a steady and predictable stream of income to support SSJE’s activities in perpetuity.

Success of the Building RenovationsThe renovation of the Monastery in Cambridge is basically complete, and the Brothers have gratefully re-occupied the building and resumed their activities. The bridge financing remains to be repaid with a schedule through to 2015. It is important to note that neither SSJE’s Endowment nor the Annual Fund were used to fund this capital expenditure. The cloister garden was obliterated by the renovation and the historically significant Fletcher Steele designed Guesthouse garden is also in need of restoration. The GREEN & Light Capital Campaign to renew the Monastery gardens and sacred spaces has so far raised $200,000 towards its $385,000 goal. The Brothers have plans to create a native woodland cloister garden.

Your SupportThank you again for your generosity and for giving the Brothers the opportunity to “Live upon a truth” at the Monastery in Cambridge through your steadfast support. If you have not had the opportunity to visit the Monastery I strongly encourage you to do so. It is wonderful to witness and experience first hand the renewal and growth of the Society, and in so doing find that your capacity for loving and living the truth in union with Christ has been strengthened and expanded.

Yours sincerely, The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, III XXV Presiding Bishop

30 SSJE

OfficersBr. Geoffrey Tristram, SSJE – SuperiorBr. Mark Brown, SSJE – TreasurerBr. Jonathan Maury, SSJE – ClerkBr. James Koester, SSJE – Asst. Clerk

Bishop Visitor* The Rt. Rev. Frank T. Griswold, IIIPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania

Financial AdvisorsMr. Nardin L. Baker, Needham, Massachusetts

Ms. Karen BirdWayland, Massachusetts

Ms. Kalita Beck BlessingDallas, Texas

Mr. John F. Cogan, Jr.Cambridge, Massachusetts

Mr. John CoreCambridge, Massachusetts

* Dr. Gresh LattimoreLexington, Massachusetts

Mr. Bruce V. ThomasRichmond, Virginia

Investment AdvisorsMr. Nardin L. BakerNeedham, Massachusetts

Mr. James BellBoston, Massachusetts

Mr. Jonathan B. TreatBelmont, Massachusetts

SSJE Officers, Bishop Visitor, & Advisors* Members of the Fellowship of Saint John

Buildings & Grounds AdvisorsMs. Karen BirdWayland, Massachusetts

Ms. Janet StearnsSwarthmore, Pennsylvania

Ms. Sarah WilcoxNewton, Massachusetts

Stewardship Advisors* The Rev. Dr. Mark S. AnschutzYarmouth, Massachusetts

* Ms. Barbara L. BraverGloucester, Massachusetts

* Ms. Mary P. ChatfieldCambridge, Massachusetts

* Mr. Bill KendrickMount Pleasant, South Carolina

Ms. Jean Ann SchulteWatertown, Massachusetts

Investment ManagersPension & Wealth ManagementWaltham, Massachusetts

Salem Capital ManagementWoburn, Massachusetts

Certified Public AccountantsSamet & Company PCChestnut Hill, Massachusetts

For more information, please contact:Mr. Jamie Coats, Director, Friends of SSJE617-876-3037 x57 • [email protected]


Visit www.SSJE.org/word to subscribe and to find out how you can help get the Word out.

Start your day with a Word, which we pray will help you to deepen your life with God.

Nearly four thousand people have subscribed to the Brothers’ daily offering, “Brother, Give Us a Word.”

We have been so moved by people’s responses.

“Thank you for your daily word, which travels with me on my business trips. Always soul-nourishing.”

Jean Ann, MA

“I absolutely love this ministry. I read the word on my iPhone first thing each morning as I’m waiting for my tea water to boil. It’s like being on a guided retreat every day of my life. Anything longer might be wonderful in theory, but it would pile up in my inbox unused. This is inspired. Thank you so much my friends!”

The Rev. Steven, IL

“Thank you so much. I receive the Brother, Give Us A Word and would be lost without it. These email-delivered short reflections are not only spiritually thirst quenching but, the brevity of each reflection makes them feasible to read in my hectic schedule, their depth makes them irreplaceable.”

Cristine, MA

Get the WORD OUT!

980

Mem

oria

l Dri

ve

Cam

brid

ge, M

A 0

2138

U

.S.A

.

prin

ted

on r

ecyc

led

pape

r

Non

-Pro

fit O

rg.

U.S

. Pos

tage

PAID

Ost

ervi

lle, M

APe

rmit

No.

3

Upd

ate

your

con

tact

det

ails

: to

upd

ate

or re

mov

e yo

ur n

ame

from

the

m

ailin

g lis

t see

the

post

card

insi

de.

cowley magazine summer 2012

Documents

new life

fellowship of saint

new members

society of saint john

issue of cowley

evening eucharist

holy week

communitys gratitude