I stopped for gas and a quick breakfast, then swung north in the direction of the lake country, certain that what awaited me at the Clandestine Heart Monastery would not be dull.
Two hours later I was skirting a crystal blue lake dotted with small pleasure craft. Sunbathers were jammed together on the narrow sandy lakefront, and the pine forests that surrounded Fond Du Lac were alive with camera-toting tourist families.
I checked the directions Will Berglund had given me: edge of lake through mountains to farmland, past three farmhouses, one mile to the road with the sign depicting major faiths.
I found the mountain road, then the flat grazing land and the three farmhouses. It was sweltering, close to one hundred degrees, but I was sweating more from nervous anticipation as I turned onto the road. It cut through a half mile of sandy-soil pine forest before ending at a clearing where a plain whitewashed cement building stood, three stories high without ornamentation or architectural style or signs of welcome. A parking area had been created next to the building. The ears that were parked there were spare, too: World War II vintage jeeps and a prewar Willys sedan. They looked well kept up.
I stared at the large wooden door as if expecting an austere miracle. Gradually I realized I was seared and didn’t want to enter the monastery. This surprised me; and by reflex I got out of my car and ran to the door and banged on it as hard as I could.
The man who answered had a fresh, well-scrubbed look. He was small and refined looking, yet I got a distinct impression that he had known protracted bad times and had surmounted them. He nodded demurely and bade me enter into a long corridor of the same whitewashed cement as the exterior of the building.
At the end of the hallway I could see a meeting or worship hall of some kind.
The man, who could have been anywhere between thirty and forty-five, told me that the prelate was with his wife and would see me in a few minutes.
“You guys can get married?” I asked.
He didn’t answer me, just shoved open a small wooden door in the corridor wall and pointed me inside. “Please wait here,” he said, shutting the door behind me. The room was a monk’s cell, with few furnishings and no adornment. I checked the door. It was unlocked. In fact, it held no locking mechanism–I was free to leave if I chose. There was one unbarred window, at about the eye level of a tall man. I peeked out and saw a garden behind the monastery. A man in dirty farmer’s overalls was hoeing a row of radishes. I put my fingers in my mouth and whistled at him. He turned his head in my direction, smiled broadly, waved, and went back to his work.
For five minutes I stared in eerie silence at the naked lightbulb that illuminated the cell. Then my escort returned, telling me that the prelate had been contacted by Will Berglund and was anxious to give me all the help he could. He went on to add that although members of the Clandestine Heart Order eschewed the trappings of the world, they recognized their duty to participate in the world’s urgent matters. In fact, it was in many ways the basic tenet of their faith. The whole spiel was as ambiguous as the rest of the religious rebop I had heard in my life, but I didn’t tell the man that, I just nodded mutely and hoped I looked properly reverent. He led me past a main worship room and into a small room about double the size of the monk’s cell, this one furnished with two metal folding chairs stenciled “Milwaukee General Hospital” on the back. He told me the prelate would join me momentarily, then padded out the door, which he left ajar.
The prelate showed up a minute later. He was a robust, stocky man with jet black hair and a very dark, rough-looking razor stubble. He was probably somewhere in his forties, but again, his age was hard to discern. I stood as he entered the room. We shook hands, and as he motioned me back to the chair he gave me a look that said he was all business. He sat down and let loose with a startling belch. It was a superb icebreaker.