Black Madonna and child

I gave a talk on July 6, 2010 to a leadership reunion in Nebraska. The workshop was held at the Saint Benedictine monastery in Schuyler, Nebraska.

The monastery was a beguiling prairie-style building, incorporating aggregate concrete, red brick, and warm cherry wood (I think). It was ensconced in a cell-phone-free dip in the rolling landscape.

At night, there were fireflies.

I spent awhile in the chapel that morning, listening to the silence and watching a candle, the om-sound louder than locusts. And I spent a good long time admiring this exquisite wooden statue, maybe 5 feet tall.

Madonna and child
carved in Tanzania and
shipped to Nebraska

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