“When foundations are being destroyed, what shall the upright do?”

Mid-way through Lauds this morning, during a silent pause between Psalms, the demolition crew began their day by toppling sections of the old cellar walls next door and trying to burst through the concrete foundation. The giant excavator’s ferocious work sent repeated jolts through the chapel that we didn’t just hear, but felt.

I opened my eyes long enough to see that no one else was opening theirs. We just sat - silently praying - through the earth-shattering shudders that were occurring just outside the window. One Sister who bears a specific responsibility regarding construction activity briefly left her choir stall to investigate, but she was back within the same span of silence. And so we just sat. And prayed. And then began the next Psalm when it was time. Like nothing was happening. Like foundations were not being destroyed. Because when foundations are being destroyed, what shall the upright do, except keep praying? Except keep trusting in the presence of God?

The demolition process for Mary Hall and Joseph Hall started with the upper floors and has now reached the foundations. It is time to pull down the final stone walls and crack through the cellar floor.

This was the work they began today with their furious whacks from their fierce machines.

So when the Psalmist asks, “When foundations are being destroyed, what shall the upright do?” (Ps. 11:3) I now know not only the answer from the Psalmist, but the answer from us. You just keep on praying, confident in the presence of God.


The LORD is in his holy temple; the LORD’s throne is in heaven. God’s eyes keep careful watch… (From Ps 11)


Postscript: There is actually one other thing that Sisters do when foundations are being destroyed, and that is to watch! I can hardly pass a window without finding a Sister who has paused in the stairwell, at her bedroom

window, in the dish room, at the back door, or at any of the countless other vantage points from which we can watch the demolition. And of course I can't just pass by. I have to stop, too! It is a fascinating process to watch as the workman wield these giant machines with such care, precision, and even, at times, gentleness.

In the photo at top right, the excavator takes the final "bite" out of the northwest corner of the old cellar below the former Sisters' dining room. For more demo pictures, there are several photographs from the early phases of the demo process on the Community News page of our website (July 10th entry). We will be posting more recent photographs soon.

Brick by brick

This morning, brick by brick, I dismantled my day in prayer. Lingering in the quiet chapel after Lauds I took the day apart before it even began, letting my plans, my constructions, my assumptions, my dreams absorb back into God like the nighttime dew absorbs back into the day.

Sure, I will follow the calendar. I will be present for the scheduled arrival of guests. I will attend to my assigned duties in the monastery. But I’ll do so after having first let the day implode into praise, after letting the Dawn from on High break upon me and shatter my heart into freedom, into shards of light that will illumine the way as, brick by brick, I construct the day.


Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
He has come to his people and set them free…

…In the tender compassion of our God
the dawn from on high shall break upon us,
to shine on those who dwell in darkness
and the shadow of death,
and to guide our feet into the way of peace.