Growth
The photograph
on the left shows our tomato plants at 60 days growth. Sown on
December 10th they are now producing the third truss
of flowers and some plants in 
the warmest areas of the greenhouse have
fruit beginning to swell. We are privileged to have plants to
work with in the monastery (quite apart from the economic reason
for growing a commercial crop of tomatoes). Day and night they
increase in stature and bear fruit - not as in the gospel story
about seed growing -
The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed upon the ground, and should sleep and rise night and day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he knows not how -
for today we have much scientific expertise and understanding of crop production. In a similar way our nights and days follow one another in a regular succession with very little alteration from one day to the next. But it is precisely this going ahead, steadily, that characterises the way a monk can integrate a number of things into his daily life. Worship and prayer and reading can find a proper place in our lives because of the way the day is structured.
We invite other Christians who wish to broaden their own commitment to come and share in the life of the monastery for a space. The experience of living a balanced life of work and prayer could be just what some people are looking for in life at the present time of great change in society.
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