This is the first entry for the month of April. An interesting day which was a mix of sunny day and then cloudy, overcast and windy. We can certainly say that our weather is never boring.
This makes me think of the weather in Central Valley California and how I used to think it was boring because it was almost always sunny, warm and so predictable. Then I moved to the California coast where the weather was warm, sunny and also predictable. Then, big shock, I moved to the western coast of Canada where the weather was so different and definitely not so predictable and often not so warm.
In a way, I have found a parallel of the unpredictable weather with the unpredictability of current events. All around the monastery, the mountains are topped with snow; who would have thought of such a thing in the month of March/April? As well, who would have imagined a month ago, the Chinese virus and the disruption this would cause, or the varieties of difficulties in our daily lives? This only serves as a reminder that the unchangeable part of our lives is in our striving to become ever closer to God, and His blessing of our efforts to overcome our various passions in order to better love Him and strengthen our Orthodox Faith.
Thank you for your updates. It is such a joy to be able to check in every day and find a new snippet of life at the monastery. Thank you for the reminder to keep our spiritual efforts up in these trying times.