I was on retreat from Feb 22-25 at a Cistercian Monastery in Monck's Corner, South Carolina. The place is called Mepkin Abbey, and began in 1949 as an off-shoot from Gethsemani Abbey in Kentucky, which was the monastic home of Thomas Merton. Mepkin Abbey is situated on a large parcel of land which was at one time a working plantation, and more recently the family estate of Henry and Clare Booth Luce. Henry was the founding publisher of Life and Time Magazine. His wife Clare was also a journalist, and an American Ambassador.
I found the monastery grounds to be a wonderful place to walk, to run, to sit in the sun, and to wander about and take photos. The image I have included here is a view of the monk's cemetery in the late afternoon, approaching sundown. At some point I will write a reflection on what I saw and felt in the moment my camera captured the sun's rays beaming through the canopy of live oaks.
To learn more about the Abbey and its work, check out: http://mepkinabbey.org/
