Bears, Bees and a Benedictine Monk

It was another beautiful Fall day in Santa Fe, perfect for a Sunday drive.  I found an ad in the paper for Artist Studio tours in the nearby town of Pecos.  Pecos is in the local mountains and the first stop of the tour was at the Benedictine Monastery.  So, we set the GPS and headed east on Old Las Vegas Highway to find the monastery.

It was a lovely drive, the elevation increasing and the countryside changing and soon we were driving through beautiful thickly wooded mountains.   Soon we found the monastery and parked.  We entered the main hall which was empty except for a lone older man sitting at a table with some jewelry and wooden crosses he had made.  He had a big smile, long black hair, a cowboy hat and was wearing a beautiful Indian turquoise necklace.  He told me he had taught science at a high school in Gallup and that the necklace was made for him by a Zuni Indian as a thank you for teaching his son.   I was stunned by the time and craftsmanship it took to create the necklace and said “the father obviously loved you to make such a beautiful necklace.”  The man simply said “I know”.   What a kind and interesting man to meet in the monastery, I thought.  

Somehow the conversation turned to the beauty of the area and the plentiful animals that lived there.  He told me one of the monks at the monastery was into beekeeping and carefully tended the hives and harvested the honey.  Memories of Winnie the Pooh came to mind.

I was surprised to see the smile leave this kind man’s face, as he angrily said, “bears cause much damage and this one bear came and COMPLETELY destroyed one of the father's beehives!  I told the father that I would get my gun and KILL that bear!” 

My friend continued with his story, “I called Fish and Game and told them the damage the bear had caused and that I wanted to kill the bear.  They told me I had to wait 3 days to get a license to kill the bear.  How stupid, he said, in 3 days the bear would be gone!“  He shrugged his shoulders in disbelief, at the silly regulation of Fish and Game.

He told the father of what he had learned from Fish and Game, and the good father told him, “You must not kill the bear!”  “But father, he destroyed your beehive!”  The father repeated his wish that the bear be spared, and I was relieved that my friend said he honored the fathers wish and gave up his thoughts of vengeance.    

As we drove out of the monastery, I noticed the sign...

I couldn't help but think that the father understood that the bear’s nature was to love honey, and that the bear's life was worth saving.  He also understood that his friend wanted to avenge the bear’s damage to his hive.  It seemed perfect that this story of a conflict of natures had such a happy ending, in this very special place.