“Now I am revealing new things to you.”

June 27, 2015 | Reflections from some of the nuns

The Farm

‘Now I am revealing new things to you.
Things hidden and unknown to you.
Created just now, this very moment.’  Isaiah 48;6

Winter has come on time this year with temperatures Chickshere on Jamberoo Mountain below 10 degrees throughout the night. On these cold days and nights we are happy to snuggle up in bed and wrap ourselves up against the cold. How easy it is to forget the importance of the cold temperatures to the other creatures of the earth.

MarmaladeThe citrus trees are laden with fruit. The crisp chilly temperatures bring the sweetness on in the citrus fruit. It will be a good winter for morning juices and marmalades.

The snow peas and the snap peas need the cold nights to set the pod and the pear and apples trees need 400+ chilling hours under 10 degrees over winter. Once the trees have received their needed number of chilled hours only then will the new buds and blossoms break open.

It just strikes me how easy it is for us to wrap ourselves up, protecting ourselves from so many things and sometimes it is against things and people we actually need. There are days when I look out the window at what seems such a bleak and miserable day but when I actually go outside the air is so fresh, embracing and invigorating. I find such delight each morning in putting on lots of layers, then the beanie and off to the farm to feed the birds and harvest some bits from the garden. I come back feeling alive and ready to embrace the ‘whatever’ of this new day.

I wish many fresh morning blessings for you this week.

Sr Mechtild of Jamberoo Abbey.

Read on there is more to share…

Each week I would like to give you a small snippet from the Jamberoo Abbey Bee Diary-this week it is….

Meet the Bees!

You will have read on our current news page that we now have Italian honey bees on our beautiful Abbey property. We have positioned them at the bottom end of the farm so they are working around the farm and collecting from the rainforest.

Queen BeeHere they are. Aren’t they beautiful?

In the middle you can see Hildegard, the queen bee being protected by her hive.  At this stage Hildegard will have about 40,000 bees in her hive. The hive is highly organised.

Some bees sit at the hive entrance, young bees clean, and some bees scout the environment for food then come back and dance before the others.

Bees

This special bee dance tells the workers which direction the food is in and how far they have to travel to get there.

The little scouts are busy every day learning all about their new home.

Bee happy this week!

 

 

Are you up for a challenge?

“Take off your shoes you are standing on Holy Ground.”  Exodus 3:5

I am inviting you to take on a SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGE .

Each day, each week let us together live for change. The mindless consumption of the world’s resources is my responsibility too and every little action I take will bring about change.

This week’s challenge is firstly about attentive listening. Take a moment each day to stand outside in the open and be aware of being a created being. Receive from the earth the gift of the day’s weather conditions. Thank God for the diversity you encounter and tune your conscious mind away from critiquing or judging only in the light of your own likes and dislikes. Let your face and body freely express what you encounter.

Water is a creation of God to sate our thirst, refresh our spirits, cleanse us, cool us and promote growth for all plants. Checking how much or how little water we use is a futile exercise when we lose the sense of our dependence on water. Use water this week as it was meant for us. Is it for you a gift to be reverenced or is it a commodity?

Only by changing our consciousness can we make changes in our consumption.

 

Sr Mechtild of Jamberoo Abbey