Journal Entry from Hildegard Abbey

At the Hildegard Abbey, we are taking a day of respite from having completed the Hildegard Way pilgrimage across Hildegard Land.  Setting fewer expectations allowed for an experience of seeing nature, making meaningful social interactions, and of course learning more deeply about Hildegard von Bingen. In many ways, it was like coming home as I haven’t been here since 2013 when I first started filming, The Unruly Mystic: Saint Hildegard.

Hildegard Abbey

This time, my experience is much more self-aware in that I have a greater appreciation for being back at both the familiar and new. Being with Heather (my wife) has added another layer of sweetness. We are staying at Hildegard Abbey for two nights which gives us some room for reflection. We are having our meals here in a separate area for visitors, but we have access to the non-public half of the abbey. Sitting in the cloister garden, we are both tired, spiritually, and physically, from the recent heat and pace we were setting. I am blessed with good video footage and success with my drone (almost losing it in a tree). While those excitements were fun, the question of why I am here is more profound in retrospect.

There is the aspect of Hildegard as a person who invites one to connect deeper to good, and there is the work of Hildegard that connects one closer to God. Both pathways lead to self-reflection of one’s relationship to the spiritual self, community, and the larger cosmos of being present now. The more conservative view is deeply layered with God being the only reason for Hildegard to do what she did, it removes the individual from the action. While the Sisters praise all contributions from others through their offerings of art, they see that effort as continual evidence of God’s work.

I see something different in the example as I feel the literal meaning of God is too limited. It goes to the river that we can all put our feet or whole body into, that connection to every without judgment and as a contribution to the larger good. It is the source of the Godhead Wisdom Pillar or whatever you call it. Hopefully, it is all the same thing in organized religions as in my heart.

Michael Conti’s Journal Entry from July 28, 2019

What is your experience with visiting a meaningful place twice?