We feel a never ending stream of gifts that rain down on us everyday here on Beaver Island, whether it is the dramatic sunset, the rhythm of the waves, or the warmth of the deck on our toes.  Letting the depths of Nature’s gifts permeate - like an ancient bell deeply ringing - in the quiet rhythm, beauty blossoms everywhere and all that is before us becomes a gift of the moment- the warm shower, the food in the pantry, or the smile of a stranger.  This life-giving exchange where the work of one is the gift to another - where life is self-sustaining through its immense diversity and uniqueness. 

We believe it is essential that humans start to see this and live in better balance with Nature’s rule set.  Abbey’s arise from an Order.  For us, the Order is a tributary of Nature and her rule set in the broadest sense possible as we are trying to navigate the moving trajectory of the horizontal, physical existence while also being affected by and traveling vertically through transcendent and descendent experiences of the emergent properties.