Renewed Life at Cedars of Peace
Posted on July 1, 2021, by Susan Classen CoL
On May 4 around 8:15 p.m., a narrow band of straight-line wind tore through Cedars of Peace with tornado-like force. Heeding the last-minute tornado warning, JoAnn Gates and I were huddled in the crawl space of our cabin. As soon as the warning was lifted, we went outside. Seeing the roof of my outdoor workshop space slammed against the trees, my adrenalin surged, and I rushed toward the cabins.
Trees and debris in the road did nothing to calm my racing heart as I imagined finding a retreatant injured in a demolished cabin.
It was a close call for the occupant of this cabin, who remained incredibly calm as we surveyed the damage and tried not to imagine what could have happened if this massive oak tree had fallen just 10 feet over.
The real story, however, is not about the storm damage but about the life-filled response. First thing the next morning, the Motherhouse maintenance men cleared the road and began fixing electric lines.
Don Hissam, above, and Laura Pitvorec, below, faithfully volunteer at Cedars every month. It happened that they already had planned to come just days after the storm.
Meanwhile, friends from the Paoli Mennonite Fellowship where I am a member were mobilizing. Exactly two weeks after the storm, 11 volunteers arrived to rebuild the workshop roof, cut firewood, and clean up debris.
The story of life and rebirth continues. Six weeks after the storm, Motherhouse employees Trent Farmer, Joe Graves and Cody Rakes successfully extracted the oak tree that fell so that it could be milled using the Motherhouse portable sawmill.
Dave LaCrosse, above and far right, is a former long-term retreatant at Cedars who readily agreed to return to help mill the fallen trees so they could be used in the new cabin that will be built at Cedars later this summer.
This board is 24 inches wide, 12 feet long, and 2 inches thick. Imagine it as the countertop in the new cabin, and imagine the excitement shared by Cody, Trent, Dave, and me as we contemplated the fallen oak tree now shining with new life to be shared.
During the past six weeks at Cedars, we have experienced the dying and rising that is embedded as a pattern in the universe and is at the heart of our faith. Dying does not have the last word in nature, in society, in Loretto or in our personal lives. This tangible experience at Cedars nourishes my trust that the Spirit is calling forth life in us as individuals as well as in Loretto as a whole.
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