Tulsa to Wichita

It's really nice to be able to make this leisurely trip across country. It's given us a chance to connect with important people in our lives, plus we're able to meander around some places that we've usually flown over. I was grateful we were able to stop at Osage, Forest of Peace, a Benedictine monastery in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. It's a place I've gone on two retreats and each time I was renewed and reinvigorated. The first time I went was after my ordination to the diaconate and after taking the General Ordination Exams during seminary. The second time I went there was after the summer our rector at St. Paul's went on sabbatical. Both times I had a lot to reflect on. This time, I was able to show Lisa and Will around and introduce them to Sister Pascaline Coff, the spiritual director and founder of the house. We had a delicious lunch and met some of the retreatants. Because the sisters are all aging, the order decided to close Osage and relocate most of the sisters, allowing it to become a lay contemplative community. Sr. Pasacaline has agreed to stay for a year to facilitate the transition. It was after a 1970s trip to Shantivnam, Father Bede Griffith's Christian ashram in India, that Sr. Pascaline founded Osage. I'm fortunate to have made two retreats there while it was still a Benedictine monastery. I also look forward to going back sometime early next year for a retreat as they make the transition.

After lunch and a short walk, we got back in the car and made our way across half of Oklahoma and then north into Kansas. We're spending the night in Wichita. After dinner, we walked around Old Town, which is sort of a shopping mall built into old buildings, although it's pretty nice. Then we walked around the park on the Riverfront, which we thought was pretty spectacular, particularly the statue pictured above--the Keeper of the Plains, and the plaza that surrounds it. We plan to be in Denver sometime late in the day on Saturday.