Your Island

This is a good day for America. Thomas Merton, the monk, became a U.S. citizen on this date in 1951.

He lived in a secluded monastery. And he had a lot to say about silence, especially to a noisy place like America.

Sometimes I'd like to live in a secluded monastery so I didn't have to listen to useless stuff like the passing of faded pop stars. But my wonderful wife and four kids and their stinky old dog probably wouldn't agree to this. (Or maybe they would...I'm too chicken to ask.)

An island works almost as well as a monastery, especially my favorite island in Lake Superior. This place is so disconnected that people line up outside Ed & Marilyn's Island Market to fetch the morning newspaper. (People lining up for the newspaper...shouldn't that be on the news?)

I usually think I go to the Island to find wisdom. But I'm wrong when I think like that. What really happens when I go to the Island is wisdom finds me. Sometimes. If I let it.

Do you have an Island (or maybe even a monastery)? I hope so. It's a great place to let wisdom find you.

So, here's to spending time this upcoming summer holiday in a place way off the grid, whether it's an island in the middle of a lake or in the middle of some other part of your world.

When you go there, do you have success letting wisdom find you? If you do, how did you do that?