tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-85674970064298991192024-03-04T20:20:38.076-08:00Life at the Monastery of St. GertrudeReflections on contemporary Benedictine life at the Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, IDMonastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.comBlogger148125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-14563434795750941992013-02-18T15:37:00.000-08:002013-02-18T15:37:07.026-08:00How to be a Monk: The Surprise of Lent
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Most people probably think that being a monk is very
hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since most people associate
Lent with a rather dour season of sacrifice and penance, it would seem that
being a monk during Lent is especially hard.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our friend Benedict seems to reinforce this picture with the first
phrase from his chapter on the observance of Lent: <sup><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></sup>“The life of a monk ought to be a
continuous Lent.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>So, <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>is anybody else depressed and ready to become
a Unitarian (at least during Lent)? (RB 49:1)<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Of course you have to watch out for Benedict, he can
be tricky.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While his chapter on Lent has
plenty of expected asceticism, with fasting, prayer and giving up, there is
also a surprise.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The surprise is what
underlies the reason for these Lenten practices.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Why does Benedict have his monk take on extra
disciplines?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The answer is that Lent is about joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No, really, Benedict does have both oars in
the water. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Just think about it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Lent is a preparation for Easter, the event
that is the summit and ultimate meaning of our faith, that Christ has conquered
death and led us into new life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"> that</i> is something to be rejoice in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So perhaps Lent isn’t about wallowing in our sins,
especially since most of us don’t need a lot of encouragement to think badly
about ourselves, nor is it about feeling virtuous because we managed to give up
Facebook for 40 days (or at least a couple of days).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps the meaning of Lent comes from what
Benedict talks about when he tells his monks “… to wash away in this holy
season the negligences of other times.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The “negligences” that most of us are prone to aren’t
necessarily the fact that we drink coffee, eat chocolate, forget to prayer
regularly, or the other traditional areas we focus on, perhaps we are negligent
in our lack of joy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Do we feel a
deep-seated, profound joy at the coming of Easter?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During this Lent we can work on what keeps us
from focusing on the most important aspects of our faith life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What keeps us from joy, from love, from
wonder, from passion?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The practices of Lent are designed to re-kindle the
earth shattering reality of our faith.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We are invited to re-experience the transformative power of God’s love
for us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We are challenged to be shaken
to our depths that we are people who stand at the empty tomb and whose lives
will never be the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">As Benedictine monastics what practices will help us
shake off our negligences and re-awaken our joy this season?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-56335778751261824322012-11-30T17:46:00.000-08:002012-11-30T17:46:32.361-08:00How to be a monk – Lesson three: Balance<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAD0uTHvsYBd2cXHzVKytdpEGF30o2yshV4OY0CGaekWlSgraBeM2vaHBhaKSAbmUM19PUmpn0e8ucIJlKVZe6MHi91AcBobaYClfnyfw-4QNmoY4jNQXbnWTvkWaaO2xF8dMgEl0Imw/s1600/rock+leaf.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipAD0uTHvsYBd2cXHzVKytdpEGF30o2yshV4OY0CGaekWlSgraBeM2vaHBhaKSAbmUM19PUmpn0e8ucIJlKVZe6MHi91AcBobaYClfnyfw-4QNmoY4jNQXbnWTvkWaaO2xF8dMgEl0Imw/s1600/rock+leaf.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It is possible that there are some people today who don’t
dream about having a more “balanced” life but I don’t think I’ve met any of
them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The longing for “balance” seems to
be a deep, heartfelt theme for many people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many of these people also see balance as an integral part of Benedictine
life and spirituality.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I wonder whether people have taken much time (have much
time?) to really think through what this “balanced” life would look like.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps for many people it is simply being
less out of control, having a little more time for God and family and being
less consumed with work and busyness.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All of these are very worthy goals but are they really Benedictine,
monastic goals?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benedict never uses the
word balance in his Rule and if we look closely at the schedule he sets out for
his monks we would probably blanch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Benedict has his monks pray eight times a day, do two to three hours of
individual prayer (lectio) every day as well as work in the field, do kitchen
duty and all the various chores that make up everyday life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Basically Benedict had his monks praying most
of the day, either in chapel or in their private prayer times.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Most modern people are not looking for a “balanced”
life that looks like the extreme prayer schedule of Benedict’s monastery.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But perhaps as modern people we miss the point of what
Benedict was trying to do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benedict
created an outward structure in the monastery in which people had to drop
everything, interrupt their busy day and go to prayer eight times a day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He had them devote prime hours of the day to
their personal prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Life in Benedict’s
monastery was about constantly interrupting daily activities in order to
prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What was the result for his
monks of this constant interruption day after day, year after year? <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps eventually the habit of prayer would
become so internalized in his monks that everything became prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Eventually monks would no longer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">need</i> to go to chapel to pray, they would
no longer <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">need</i> to have scheduled
times of lectio to have their personal prayer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>They would still do it, but the monks would come to see all of life as a
constant prayer, a continual attitude of awareness of the presence of God.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps this is the true nature of Benedictine balance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balance isn’t about more time for things we
like or even more time for prayer and God, it is about a life in which faith
and our awareness of the presence of God permeates absolutely everything we
do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Balance is who we are, people who
are aware of God in everyone we meet, everything we do, in all our thoughts,
words and actions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Balance is indeed a gift of Benedictine spirituality today,
but it is a gift of living a life in which there is no longer a distinction
between God, faith and the rest of our lives.</div>
Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-88175529663311920202012-11-20T14:25:00.000-08:002012-11-20T14:29:01.367-08:00How to be a monk: Lesson Two – The Journey<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Do you ever wonder what the purpose of your life is, where
you are going?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the beginning of
Benedict’s Rule (his guidebook for monks) he uses the phrase: “let us set out
on this way with the Gospel for our guide.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In that brief phrase he captures a tremendous amount of wisdom.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
We are all on a journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Many, perhaps most of us, spend a lot of time blithely putting one foot
in front of the other without any real thought of destination beyond the next
meal, paycheck, crisis or other immediate, concrete goal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>But often there comes a point in life when
something hits us upside the head and we start to wonder about the deeper
meaning and point to our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We wonder
what life is really all about, whether there is a meaning that we have
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These are precisely the questions that Benedict answers in
his Rule.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is writing for Christians
who want to follow the Gospel as a way of life, people who want their faith to
inform all aspects of their life, who want their faith to be more than abstract
belief or ethical behavior.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benedict
writes a guidebook for people who want the Gospel to permeate all aspects of
their lives, who want to listen to what Benedict calls “God’s delightful voice.”</div>
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<br /></div>
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So what is the nature of this journey?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First we have to consciously begin, to set
out.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This sounds simple enough but it is
a radical step.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To set out on the
spiritual journey means that we can no longer take our faith for granted, it
can no longer be something that we dabble in or think about once in a while.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The journey is a journey to
consciousness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We seek to become aware
of God’s presence in our life at all times and in all ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we set out on this journey we can no
longer compartmentalize our faith, putting it in a box that is separate from
work, family, leisure and the many concerns of our life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we decide to set out on this way we have
to look at every aspect of life from the perspective of the Gospel.</div>
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<br /></div>
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But fortunately we have support on this journey.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Benedict assumes that we don’t do this alone,
we will be with others and as community we will make the journey together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We have a road map, Benedict’s Rule,
guidebook, is eminently practical and inspiring.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We don’t have to blaze our own trail we read
a map that has been used by many generations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>And we walk in the company of the monks who have gone before us and
shown us that the journey is possible.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Perhaps it is time: are you ready to set out on this way,
the Gospel for your guide?</div>
Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-50853336860183699862012-11-12T15:00:00.000-08:002012-11-12T15:02:23.581-08:00How to be a monk: Lesson One – Listening<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JU0bWA7grE88KOxpSNk7PrAW3Oa_7qbGRlNqCh9DXBNkH8Nx8lE-KVVZ1T6AkFf4fc_dfwT_aCxlxIJMonoFlctMg20Sc9bSSiOqlRjJ_chbkAXfwIa2LH_fRSXLDkw__jVMu5ZqX6c/s1600/Searching,+11x14+Silver+Gelatin+Print+(Large).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JU0bWA7grE88KOxpSNk7PrAW3Oa_7qbGRlNqCh9DXBNkH8Nx8lE-KVVZ1T6AkFf4fc_dfwT_aCxlxIJMonoFlctMg20Sc9bSSiOqlRjJ_chbkAXfwIa2LH_fRSXLDkw__jVMu5ZqX6c/s320/Searching,+11x14+Silver+Gelatin+Print+(Large).jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What is a monk?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Above
all a monk is someone who listens.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a
world flooded with nattering, chattering, vacuous noise the monk listens deeply
and responds fully.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Monastic listening
is rooted and grounded in silence, in the place where we let go of the many
competing voices and demands of our lives and find a place to hear the voice of
God that is heard in silence.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The call to be a monk may first manifest itself in a desire
to listen or a realization of how rarely most of us actually listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The noise of our lives is pervasive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are jobs to go to, children to care
for, spouses to pay attention to.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If
that isn’t enough the cacophony of the internet, smart phones, television, all
the screens in our lives compete for our attention and scream with
distractions.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And most of us are happily distracted.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We secretly glory in our busyness, we’re
delighted to have one more excuse to avoid the hard work in front of us.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hard work may be jobs or family or it may
be something even deeper.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Listening is hard
work but it is the foundation of soul work.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
In listening we begin to hear our deepest desires, those
secret hopes that we may be afraid to articulate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In deep listening we hear our desires to be
loved, to have meaning, to care for others.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>In listening we hear the whispers of God beckoning us to follow our
desires to the place where we can all become whole.</div>
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St. Benedict, the founder of western monasticism began his
guidebook on the monastic way with these words: “Listen my child to the master’s
instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Many people are called to be monks, to seek
God above all else in their lives, and listening with the ear of the heart is
the first step.</div>
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Perhaps it is time: Listen.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Be silent. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Be open.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What is your heart saying?</div>
Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-60590534618585092162012-09-09T11:10:00.000-07:002012-09-09T11:15:24.701-07:00Art and Monasticism<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjL6vhFcn2YS_QvhzNPLykf0RT1SLJfhlAtUL01t5zrN7DkdtJDL8LYEM95Mci-R9SC38lPp0Uwgz-bgZbMnM8egcfCpVMtCJ0uVSc8eHyX1Woz3QUj_HnQRmqQ70se1cYqibNHKKgWY/s1600/Asian+Benedict.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHjL6vhFcn2YS_QvhzNPLykf0RT1SLJfhlAtUL01t5zrN7DkdtJDL8LYEM95Mci-R9SC38lPp0Uwgz-bgZbMnM8egcfCpVMtCJ0uVSc8eHyX1Woz3QUj_HnQRmqQ70se1cYqibNHKKgWY/s320/Asian+Benedict.jpg" width="109" /></a></div>
September seems to be a season for the arts here at the Monastery. We are privileged to have 6 artists, writers and filmmakers joining us for the first ever “Artist Residency” program. Today we welcome back the Gonzaga University Choir for a concert. The arts are everywhere!<br />
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At first there doesn’t seem to be much connection between art and monasticism. But by bringing the arts into this sacred space the intersection between people living a life focused on God and the lives of those who are focused on creativity begins to become clear.<br />
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Those of us who are monastics lives a simple, disciplined life focused on God. All aspects of monastic life are structured to allow us to make faith the focus of our lives. We order our lives in such a way that we can focus our energy on being open to God’s re-creating, transformative power. We live simply, in community, sharing all our resources and creating structured, consistent time for prayer and contemplation.<br />
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Perhaps the life of the artist, writer, musician is not so different. For people serious about their creative work there is a monastic asceticism as they structure their life around their discipline. To enter deeply into any kind of art means to sacrifice other things. An artist isn’t one who dabbles occasionally but is the person who is drawn, even driven to create, to bring something new to birth. The artist is a person of vision and vision requires discipline, sacrifice, commitment to be made real.<br />
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Both monks and artists of all types are drawn, perhaps driven, by the transcendent. Whether the force that beckons them on is named God or is a more personal vision, it is always something beyond, something that transcends the complacent here and now where many people seem content to dwell. Both prayer and creativity are expressions of a primal feeling that there is something more, something that may be hard to express or articulate but powerful and compelling. In prayer and creativity we are drawn to enter the deep realization of trying to express our deepest longings, joys, fears and insights. In prayer and creativity we take the risk of opening ourselves up, of listening, of being transformed and offering our gifts on behalf of the world.<br />
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So today and in these weeks the monastics of St. Gertrude’s are given the gift of sharing our way of life. The musicians and artists join us for prayer and Eucharist. We are able to give of ourselves by offering space and the sharing of who we are. And in this mutual gift giving something new is being born as together we are witnesses to what it means to live lives focused on the transcendent.
Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-61841737472508552282012-04-05T09:53:00.004-07:002012-04-05T09:59:55.323-07:00Living Holy Week Every Week<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PC7gn-3TQT-7xtysRaG6kOTz5G_nZrc1jg6eBwusIFdvpK4gwOeAR-AFVaDEm1_YwgcQdQURMmslWcBdb7y_m2mSI5OV2eClnzsjEgmHBs2BS9KxlkYCICWohCAEOJ4eiyKPeBqdK-o/s1600/foot+washing.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 194px; height: 260px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1PC7gn-3TQT-7xtysRaG6kOTz5G_nZrc1jg6eBwusIFdvpK4gwOeAR-AFVaDEm1_YwgcQdQURMmslWcBdb7y_m2mSI5OV2eClnzsjEgmHBs2BS9KxlkYCICWohCAEOJ4eiyKPeBqdK-o/s320/foot+washing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5727961898498999826" /></a>I think it would be easier if Holy Week was just about historical events. I mean seeing the events of 2000 years ago in Jerusalem as a history lesson is still powerful. We read about the high hopes of the crowd and the disciples as they enter Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, on Good Friday we feel the agony of crushed hopes and suffering, on Easter Sunday we enter into the unknown of an empty tomb. But even in our liturgies it is easy to do all this from a distance, as if we were watching a movie, seeing this week as something that happened long ago and far away.<br /><br />But I realized something this year at our Palm Sunday celebration here at the Monastery. This year didn’t look new, it was the same gathering in the hallway with palms, the same singing as we processed into chapel singing, the same reading of the passion and once again I missed the memo that went out for everyone to wear red. On the surface everything looked the same as it does every year. But something shifted in how I understood what this week means.<br /><br />The events of this week are a microcosm of our monastic life, probably a microcosm of everyone’s faith life. It starts on Palm Sunday when everything is new, exciting and full of hope and possibility. For those of us who entered monastic life this is the time when it feels like our life is about to be fulfilled. Like Jesus riding in on the donkey there is a sense of paradox, this isn’t about a triumphant entry on a white horse. We have entered a monastery after all. We’ve given up a lot to just get here, to enter the doors with our vastly whittled down collection of motley belongings. But what anticipation, what a sense of call and faith to finally be here! The crowds wave palms and shout hosanna, people greet us and welcome us into a new adventure. The sisters look at us as the crowd looked at Jesus, full of promise, full of projected hopes for their idea of what we should do and be.<br /><br />Then there is an interval of sinking into everyday life. The Passover will be different this year with Jesus but Passover comes every year. Even as someone enters monastic life there are still chores to do, prayers to go to, a new role to adjust to. There is normalcy in the midst of anticipation and newness.<br /><br />And so Holy Thursday comes. Jesus introduces his frequently clueless disciples to the reality of service. His ministry isn’t about glory or power it is about taking the role of a servant, demonstrating a new reality of upended expectations and the foreshadowing of suffering to come. So too in monastic life the reality sinks in that this isn’t really what we expected. This isn’t the Disneyland version of monasticism, this is real life. People aren’t always nice. We become aware that we are often the people that aren’t nice. The darkness and shadow side emerges. Serving others isn’t easy, it’s messy, it’s frustrating, it doesn’t end. The excitement of the entry into Jerusalem, into the monastery is over, a new, disconcerting reality is taking over.<br /><br />The time of Holy Week is linear, it is symbolic time where events clearly fall one after another. In real time, in monastic time it isn’t always straight-forward. But Good Friday comes. Jesus enters into the stripping of hope, of expectation, of rescue. Here is the point when the only reality is suffering and torture, the only feeling is abandonment and pain. In monastic life the suffering will come in its own time. It comes in the disconcerting early days of transition, being stripped of one identity, of a previous sense of accomplishment and competence and the vulnerability of a new way of being. It will come around again in sickness, old age, unexpected reversals. Jesus’ anguished cries of abandonment won’t be an historical event they will be a shared reality.<br /><br />The transition always comes in the night. In deepest darkness, in the place of no hope, when there are no answers, no light, the new fire is lit. At the Easter Vigil we gather in chapel, read the stories of salvation history and light the new fire which is the coming of Christ, the light and life, into our darkness, into our lives. In our monastic lives there are times when a small spark will light a new fire, when we are also able to sing: “lumen Christi, light of Christ.” Something happens in the life-long commitment to this monastic way of life. There is a transition to new life, we bend over, see that the tomb is empty and finally understand. New life isn’t quite what we expect, it happens in God’s way, in God’s time and not our own. Resurrection is a new way of seeing, a new way of being in the world. Resurrection is not resuscitation, it isn’t going back to how everything was before, it is a hope beyond comprehension, a trust that God will act. The light is God’s light not our own.<br /><br />This is monastic resurrection. When the light comes there are still chores to do, difficult people to live with, prayer to be distracted during. But now there is a new foundation, a new reality, a new way of being, God is present in a new way and we can live in a hope we don’t fully understand, we walk in a light that we see with faith and not our eyes. In the days of resurrection this monastic life is truly life giving and our light is for the world.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-18360472212834982592012-03-21T14:42:00.003-07:002012-03-21T22:45:52.188-07:00Benedict and the Unmentionable Topic<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zvbkDE1TiwygjtoXQGEqBXi3FWCMDcpC7BuKPnZOHkzwTNTfmsdPTJ516BM-4O88LNYnWAdIqnDVYWsUHSPebygBnUrJzUQDfZAKQG9reLsZrWve50iK6SaDU9fPjhfFuCfr_z3wSTE/s1600/Benediktus_42-thumb-450x317.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9zvbkDE1TiwygjtoXQGEqBXi3FWCMDcpC7BuKPnZOHkzwTNTfmsdPTJ516BM-4O88LNYnWAdIqnDVYWsUHSPebygBnUrJzUQDfZAKQG9reLsZrWve50iK6SaDU9fPjhfFuCfr_z3wSTE/s320/Benediktus_42-thumb-450x317.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5722469472273888850" /></a>OK, it is time to speak of the unspeakable. When I first came to the monastery I noticed something very odd and frankly rather disturbing. I first saw it working in the archives. For a while I was working on scanning old obituaries. I noticed that it seemed like whoever wrote them had an obsession with death. The obituaries didn’t tend to say a lot about the life of the sister but rather seemed to dwell on how she died. Interestingly enough everyone apparently died a wonderful, happy death full of faith, just waiting to leap into the arms of God. Admittedly I am cynical by nature but I thought “yeah, right!” When I entered the community I certainly didn’t have much experience of death or dying but I knew that there was nothing nice about death even if you were a person of great faith. I thought these sisters were either seriously naïve or had some strange, romantic idea of death.<br /><br />Well it is now fifteen years later and I have seen quite a few sisters die and even written a few obituaries (although none of them described anyone’s death). That, together with the fact that today we are celebrating the death of St. Benedict our founder, makes it seem like a good time to reflect on a subject that is unmentionable in our society, namely death.<br /><br />We live in an odd society that seems to have no trouble talking about sex, the beginning of life, but seems unable to talk about the other constant in life which is death. If someone were to drop in on our planet, at least on the developed world, they would probably think we were either massively deluded, massively in denial or just plain dense. We spend huge amounts of money on health care for people in the last days of their life, as if somehow with enough extraordinary measures the person will not eventually die anyway. The industry of death, mortuaries and related services, seem to be based on a fundamental need to deny reality with making everyone seem “life-like” without any sense of irony. Even the awful trauma of violent, unexpected death of all sorts is treated with a sense that it should never happen, as if we all have a fundamental right to be free of death in general or at least certainly from violent or traumatic death.<br /><br />So where does Benedict fit into all this? According to tradition Benedict died on this day, March 21st, in the year 547 which was Holy Thursday. In the only source we have about his life, by Gregory the Great, he is depicted as foreseeing the moment of his own death and then he goes to prayer one last time before “…supporting his weakened body on the arms of his brethren, he stood with his hands raised to heaven and, as he prayed, breathed his last.” This tradition then led to Benedict being a patron of a “happy death.” And to commemorate this event the modern followers of Benedict celebrate him (and his death) today with readings that talk about his glorious passing into eternal life.<br /><br />So which is it? Is death something horrible, to be denied and resisted at all costs? Is there such a thing as a “happy death? Are those the only two choices, complete denial or Disney-esque romanticism? <br /> <br />Perhaps an honest look at Benedict’s death might provide a third way. Even in the 6th century account Benedict’s death can’t be mistaken for “happy.” As soon as he predicts his death he was said to be overtaken by a terrible fever which completely sapped his strength. He had to be held up by his monks at community prayer for the last time. Death did not come easily, but in weakness and dependence. Benedict didn’t welcome death with open arms, he simply saw it coming and accepted it in faith. There was neither fear nor denial, simply an open recognition that death is no easier than life, but we are born in hope and we die in hope. Neither birth nor death is easy, they involve suffering and pain but both are enfolded in hope of new life, on earth or after this earth. For Benedict, for all believers, death is an end and a beginning. It is not to be resisted at all costs and it is not to be embraced before it is time. Death will not be easy or pain free or fair. It is simply what happens and the best we can hope for is to die in the midst of our community while praying to be received into the arms of our new community, the life-giving Trinity of love. So perhaps today we remember Benedict as the patron saint for accepting death with grace, with hope, with peace.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-30106855785855041772012-02-23T10:14:00.003-08:002012-02-23T10:21:20.640-08:00Lent, joy and the heebie-jeebies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQlFI_uNak5KD8Q72-KMIjrt44WNpJpne233YZvnSRT7dZgqZ5R8C4mPtUAX1ghctMKm396RI2_lT2taO2IGWWyxquf93iEhLqsQufEUhrqkPzgRcWv4Kao1G1nF5UVT2PIuqiFpoZyg/s1600/Ash+Wednesday.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 167px; height: 156px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgQlFI_uNak5KD8Q72-KMIjrt44WNpJpne233YZvnSRT7dZgqZ5R8C4mPtUAX1ghctMKm396RI2_lT2taO2IGWWyxquf93iEhLqsQufEUhrqkPzgRcWv4Kao1G1nF5UVT2PIuqiFpoZyg/s320/Ash+Wednesday.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5712397516367212178" /></a>Our life should be a continual Lent. Is that a scary thought? I have to admit that the idea tends to give me the heebie-jeebies. Lent often seems to be overlaid with a lot of artificial asceticism and guilt and these are not the attributes I want to characterize my life. But in the Benedictine Rule which we follow Benedict said the life of a monk should be a continuous Lent. Fortunately the idea isn’t quite as off-putting as it first sounds.<br /><br />Benedict devotes one entire chapter to the observance of Lent. And while he does strongly urge giving up something for Lent, he also says something very interesting about why we should do this. The purpose of Lent is to “look forward to Easter with joy and holy longing.” (RB 49:7) Now there’s an interesting concept, Lent is about joy and holy longing, and not guilt. Frankly that’s a relief because for me giving up things often just leads to failure and guilt. Instead, Benedict implies that the extra disciplines are simply designed to sharpen my sense of anticipation, of deep longing to experience the transformative power of God in my life. Lent is like anticipating a big event by marking off days on a calendar knowing that something wonderful is coming. <br /><br />These practices of Lent are reminders that Easter is not simply a given, it is not something we can take for granted or be complacent about. By setting aside Lent as a sacred, anticipatory time we will experience Easter as the always new, always unmerited, always transforming gift of God’s grace in our lives. In other words whether or not I even try to give up something this Lent the practice and the anticipation will be about joy and longing.<br /><br />There is something rather innocent about this attitude toward Easter. It brings to mind the simple excitement of small children anticipating Christmas. For small children the big event hasn’t yet been overlaid with obligation, pressure and guilt, it is still just a wonderful, magical gift. But as we mature we lose our sense of wonder about Easter just as we did with Christmas. We know how the story will end. The emptiness of the tomb evokes a yawn rather than trembling and wonder. Most of us are no longer capable of the earth shattering awe that is the essence of Easter. For most adults Lent has no sense of joyous anticipation but is a rather morbid dirge of sacrifice and asceticism. Perhaps a Benedictine Lent calls forth a peeling away of the attitudes keep us anaesthetized from the true feeling of Lent. Perhaps Lent is an excited anticipation of joy, a deep, wonderful aching for the ultimate gift of new life at Easter. Perhaps life as a continual Lent is a calling that all Christians, inside and outside the monastery, can embrace as we all “look forward to Easter with joy and holy longing.”Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-75882141550782722942012-02-02T14:40:00.000-08:002012-02-02T14:45:59.763-08:00Confession When Everybody Already Knows What You’ve Done<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2_yQVJdiCRgvrpudLlB_XH09b6cGfCUdeLzZNGNGHMfqbUKBD0ZDLRlJ04rjcyuayII9KjnAcGMlzsLHhuAd1UvYTju8pQsJEo53KUpyNvid7AGaMdPrVSPEMWV0_3c7ofmjcFKgavU/s1600/Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_-_The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_-_Detail_Father_Son.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 246px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH2_yQVJdiCRgvrpudLlB_XH09b6cGfCUdeLzZNGNGHMfqbUKBD0ZDLRlJ04rjcyuayII9KjnAcGMlzsLHhuAd1UvYTju8pQsJEo53KUpyNvid7AGaMdPrVSPEMWV0_3c7ofmjcFKgavU/s320/Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_-_The_Return_of_the_Prodigal_Son_-_Detail_Father_Son.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5704672811995087362" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">A weekly commentary on the Rule of Benedict: The Fifth Step of Humility (RB 7:44-48)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“The fifth step of humility is that we do not conceal from the prioress/abbot any sinful thoughts entering our hearts, or any wrongs committed in secret, but rather confess them humbly.”</span><br /><br />In Benedict’s fifth step on the ladder of humility he says that we have to disclose our sinful thoughts and wrongs we have done to the abbot or prioress. My gut reaction whenever I read this is always “no way!” But my second reaction is to remember a quote I read from an abbot of a Trappist monastery who described community life by saying “we walk around naked.” Obviously no one was physically naked but when people live together in close proximity year after year, there are no secrets. This reality changes what it means to confess thoughts or actions to the abbot or prioress.<br /><br />My first reaction may be that I don’t want to tell the prioress all the thoughts that are going through my head or the various actions that I’m not proud of but if I am honest I have to admit it isn’t likely I can tell her anything that she (and the whole community!) doesn’t already know. I tend to imagine the prioress responding: “yeah, what else you got?” when I think I am telling her some deep, dark secret. The point and purpose of this disclosure is much deeper.<br /><br />Several things happen in this process of speaking out loud things that come from within. When I come before the prioress I am consciously stripped of my illusion that I have it together, my illusion that no one is going to notice my short-comings. I am also stripped of my illusion that I am alone on this journey and that everything is up to me. To say out loud what is deep in my heart, especially when it involves things that I don’t like about myself, is to create a new, transformed reality. This stripping of illusions is the basis for humility, creating room for God in my heart.<br /><br />It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we have it together, that since everyone else has the same issues mine don’t really matter. I can get caught in a trap of saying that all my faults are just peccadilloes and the prioress really has better things to listen to. The reality is that one of the most profound things we can experience is to be vulnerable before someone and experience the reality that we are still loved despite what we may have done, said or thought. Without the action of actually saying what is going on in our head and having someone hear it with love, we don’t change, we simply re-run the same thoughts, actions, patterns on our mental hamster wheel without ever changing. To come before someone and say out loud what we would rather not face is the beginning of change.<br /><br />This disclosure of thoughts is also a correction to the feeling that many of us have that somehow our spiritual growth is entirely up to us. Our culture tends to reinforce the idea that each of us is autonomous and responsible for our own fate. Benedict’s ladder of humility is a reminder that while we are responsible for ourselves we are also responsible for one another. This in turn means that I have support on the journey. The prioress listens not to chastise or punish but to remind each sister that she does not walk this path alone but is supported by an entire community. Benedict has his monks talk to the abbot, we talk to the prioress, to be reminded that we are not alone. When we walk this path together we all share each others burdens and the joys.<br /><br />Perhaps the most profound lesson for humility in this step is how things change when we say them out loud. Reality changes when words are spoken out loud. Our deepest fears, joys, feelings of guilt or happiness, change when we express them. Joy that is shared expands in the telling. Shame that is exposed to the light of day in the telling begins to dissipate. Thoughts and actions that are shared with the prioress in love take on a new shape. They begin to form the soil of humility, the soil of transformation.<br /><br />Benedict’s admonitions have an application far beyond any monastic community. We are called to share deeply of our thoughts and actions with someone we trust. It is in risking, trusting, speaking and listening that we open our hearts and cultivate the soil of humility in our lives.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-57711744545659769672012-01-20T17:35:00.000-08:002012-01-20T17:40:13.804-08:00Do we own our stuff or does it own us?<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDD8EU2qkpFnAJEc1gWilCK830WBcqdEKrio-mNEH62TTB_TJx3X9eA-uSLHrsLaKcrz6HHiRqZIBQatn2LHPUACsDyDnTAXctV1pG6wdsA37Uh7cSXKx7InlIVoyAxC5knjVl8GSNjh4/s1600/stuff.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 107px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDD8EU2qkpFnAJEc1gWilCK830WBcqdEKrio-mNEH62TTB_TJx3X9eA-uSLHrsLaKcrz6HHiRqZIBQatn2LHPUACsDyDnTAXctV1pG6wdsA37Uh7cSXKx7InlIVoyAxC5knjVl8GSNjh4/s320/stuff.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5699893801718814786" /></a>I have been developing a theory that our stuff multiplies at night when we’re not watching. OK, so it isn’t a particularly rational theory, but admit it, how often do you look around and say “where did all this stuff come from!?”<br /><br />This seems to be a universal problem in the developed world. No one seems to be immune from the plague of ever expanding piles of possessions. It is especially scary that even for those of us who live in monasteries stuff has a way of accumulating, multiplying and taking up all the space that we allot for it. Even monks and nuns aren’t immune from the tentacles of stuff.<br /><br />St. Benedict, the founder of monastic life in the west, lived long before the era of cheap, disposable goods. But even in the 6th century when he wrote his rule for monks, he knew the dangers of accumulation. Although Benedict is generally very flexible and pragmatic about monastic life he takes a particularly hard line on the subject of possessions (the polite word for “stuff”). He says <span style="font-style:italic;">“….without an order from the abbot [leader of the monastery], no one may presume to give, receive 3or retain anything as his own, nothing at all—not a book, writing tablets or stylus—in short, not a single item, 4especially since monks may not have the free disposal even of their own bodies and wills.</span> Rule of Benedict chapter 33:2-4<br /><br />Unlike modern people Benedict wasn’t just worried that his monks would run out of room for their stuff, he knew that the danger was much deeper and more insidious. He knew that our possessions change how we think. The more we own the less freedom we have. Our belongings start to control our lives. Pretty soon we think we “need” all kinds of things. Next, our life is oriented towards accumulating those things that we have convinced ourselves we can’t live without. We need to work harder, make more money, spend more time shopping for all the belongings that we “have to have” or that we simply want in order to make us feel better. Before long we need more space for our possessions, we spend all kinds of time caring for them, maintaining them, sorting through them, cleaning them, getting rid of them, worrying about them. In other words pretty soon we don’t own stuff, it owns us.<br /><br />When our stuff starts to own us, rather than vice versa, we have lost a fundamental sense of freedom. For Christians and other people of faith there is a fundamental freedom in knowing and experiencing the reality that everything, our very lives, are a gift from God. Ultimately, as Benedict reminds his monks, we don’t own anything, all that we think we own is really a gift that we don’t necessarily or even particularly deserve. If we are able to truly embrace this reality then there is a paradoxical freedom. If we aren’t entitled to anything, much less a house full of stuff, then we can begin to be grateful. Instead of complaining, feeling empty, focused on what we want, we can begin to just appreciate the gift of our most basic and fundamental possessions. Most of us live in houses that are palatial by the world’s standards. We feast at vast banquets every day. We have hot, running water on demand. Automobiles take us wherever we want to go, whenever we want to go. And those are just the material possessions.<br /><br />Even those of us who live the contemporary monastic way of life don’t live up to Benedict’s strict standards. We don’t own a lot (we don’t have enough room to accumulate a lot!) but we do have personal possessions. But we do make a commitment to struggle with the siren song of stuff. In the monastery our temptations may not be much different from those outside the monastery but by living in community with a common commitment to a simple life centered on God, we can perhaps accumulate less stuff and become less enmeshed in its grip. Monastic life is a chance to begin to divest ourselves of a sense of entitlement. We have to take a cold, hard look at what we really need and not just what we want. It isn’t easy, one person’s “want” is another person’s “need.” But hopefully our common struggle is a witness that if we begin to disentangle ourselves from the tentacles of our possessions there is a possibility for a life of freedom, gratitude and peace, a reward that seems more than worth the cost of a lot of stuff. When we begin to really divest ourselves of our sense of entitlement, when we reach a place where we can just give thanks for what we have, then perhaps that is the place where transformation really begins.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-50104858341663487522011-12-25T16:30:00.000-08:002011-12-25T16:33:14.085-08:00Christmas: God Pulls a Fast One<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLa71s8tZfpRftbo4Zxj7yMP6cMC4vQ7mhjr6HWqIZ9H_fuMZ0qlC6l0xW3l5zdZY7DGWyT_AQ4xq23pN2i2TD0hltKkGfUlDECmZn1CDPY94s8MGM5aeOff5DrFGHrqUsh7eo1jcYqI/s1600/infant.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 189px; height: 267px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxLa71s8tZfpRftbo4Zxj7yMP6cMC4vQ7mhjr6HWqIZ9H_fuMZ0qlC6l0xW3l5zdZY7DGWyT_AQ4xq23pN2i2TD0hltKkGfUlDECmZn1CDPY94s8MGM5aeOff5DrFGHrqUsh7eo1jcYqI/s320/infant.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5690228278988110850" /></a>Have you ever noticed how people get absolutely goofy around babies? One small baby in a group of otherwise sane adults and something happens. The center of attention is immediately diverted from everything else and usually articulate, serious people are reduced to making odd faces, strange noises and fighting over who gets to hold the baby. There is something deep and primal that pulls people towards the vulnerability of an infant. Perhaps it is a sense of hope, maybe innocence or possibility contained in such a small and fragile package. Whatever it is about babies is clearly compelling.<br /><br />So perhaps that is why God chose to enter into human reality as a baby. It is an unexpected message. All during Advent we had powerful readings with an apocalyptic sensibility: wake up! listen! God is coming! repent! The prophets speak of a radical new cosmic order. John the Baptist thunders out in the desert. It is clear that God is coming to turn the world upside down. But then what happens? Where is the thunder, the upheaval, our God coming from on high with power and might?<br /><br />Instead, as the climax of all these readings we get a baby. A helpless baby born to an unwed mother, in an occupied country, laid in straw in a barn. Once we are (hopefully) prepared, listening, paying attention, God pulls a fast one on us. God doesn’t get us to pay attention by hitting us upside the head, God gets us to pay attention by appealing to our most basic, our best, our most human instincts. The divine comes into our lives as a baby. God comes in vulnerability.<br /><br />What would it mean if we were to really pay attention to this unexpected message, if we were to treat the presence of God in the world as we would a baby? The message of Christmas is that Jesus was born into history, into time, but the message is also that the divine is being still being born into our world today. And the divine presence is still vulnerable, still fragile, in need of care and nurture.<br /> <br />Look at yourself in the mirror. Look at someone you know, someone you care about deeply, or someone you dislike. You, the person you love, the person you hate, each of you carries the image of God. Each of you were created in God’s image. Each of us carries the vulnerable presence of God in the world. Christmas says that God isn’t somewhere far away, detached, completely removed from human reality. Christmas says that God has come here in our midst and shares our reality. God has come into the depths of the human experience as an infant. <br /> <br />But today as on the first Christmas many of us will fail to recognize the divine presence in its unexpected package. Perhaps this is the source of so much suffering and evil in the world. We know that babies are deeply shaped and formed or malformed by how they are treated. Abuse, neglect, violence in formative years will create lifelong scars that will take years of hard work to heal. To fail to cherish and nurture a baby is to do violence to that new life. In the same way if we do no not recognize the vulnerable, fragile, divine spark that is the meaning of the incarnation, why do we wonder at the broken state of our world?<br /><br />So today is Christmas but every day is Christmas. The message of that day 2000 years ago is that God shares our human nature. God became an infant. God continues to share our humanity and we continue to be made in God’s image. Here and now the incarnation means that God comes in vulnerability. For the world to be made anew the divine presence in each of us must be protected, nurtured, strengthened. The divine child is in our midst, how will we treat it?Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-64836774740934916402011-12-18T14:21:00.000-08:002011-12-18T14:25:59.887-08:00Who Is Shouting At Us?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasVZNiyZMQ6gbdp21T8Ch_7WzbLL6k07-uxaB418Lu0URC0rfbWb3M3ad-ydwlxrn0doO-LutsS81VBlJ6htpRspg0gwYtrwtZTR0M5y-ZcM1WLWtFCzU-GFmvKgzmAMQELbwpGUB4XI/s1600/John+the+Baptist2.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 160px; height: 314px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgasVZNiyZMQ6gbdp21T8Ch_7WzbLL6k07-uxaB418Lu0URC0rfbWb3M3ad-ydwlxrn0doO-LutsS81VBlJ6htpRspg0gwYtrwtZTR0M5y-ZcM1WLWtFCzU-GFmvKgzmAMQELbwpGUB4XI/s320/John+the+Baptist2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5687597380732012274" /></a>Who is this scruffy, odd, unkempt maniac who keeps shouting at us? In the first weeks of Advent John the Baptist seems to be everywhere in the Gospel readings. From the story of his birth to his encounter with Jesus at the Jordan there is something odd and disturbing about John. I have to confess that I have tended to skip over the accounts of John, wanting to get to the “good stuff” the real story, the coming of Jesus. But I suspect that on some level I want to ignore John the Baptist because of what he represents.<br /><br />John the Baptist is more than a historical figure in the drama of salvation, he is more than a literary device to lead up to the birth of Jesus. John is also the voice of the strange, the unexpected, the rejected that shouts in our face and pulls the rug out from under our lives of comfortable complacency. John the Baptist lives deep in our souls, beneath our consciousness, in the dark places we would rather not go, proclaiming the things we don’t want to hear.<br /><br />Everything about John strips bare the illusion that we know how things work. John heralds a new order in which nothing is predictable, nothing happens the way it is supposed to. John heralds the coming of God who will set the world upside down.<br /><br />It is no coincidence that John’s birth was unexpected by human standards. Old, barren women don’t give birth. They don’t give birth years after such a thing was deemed impossible. Few of us had our birth heralded by an angel; our fathers were not struck dumb at the announcement of our birth. Everything about this birth shouts: “sit up! pay attention! look! something new is happening!”<br /> <br />After his birth John continues to do the unexpected. He lives in the wilderness, eating and clothed like an animal. The wilderness, the place where he chooses to live, is the place of demons, the place of danger and death. But since this is Scripture there is an inherent paradox here. The desert, the place that people associated with death, demons and danger becomes the place where the announcement of salvation comes from. In other words don’t look for the announcement of God’s coming to emanate from the places of established religion, comfortable faith and clear answers, look to the desert, to the darkness, to the place of fear, that is where the announcement of new life will come from.<br /><br />So what is the figure of John the Baptist that dwells deep in our inner being, the feared and rejected part of ourselves that stands up and shouts about the coming of the new order? What parts of ourselves do we want to keep in the desert, keep in our deep inner closet and never open the door?<br /><br />John the Baptist is the shouter, the doubter, the rejecter of social norms, the fearless wild man. John is the one who says that our God has not been domesticated, cannot be put in the box of our expectations. John lurks in our hearts and pokes us viciously when faith becomes easy or judgmental or simply routine and dull. John is the voice that grates like sandpaper and says there is more to faith than a dutiful hour on Sunday. John is the deep suspicion of cheap grace and facile sacraments.<br /><br />But John is also the one who welcomes the parts of ourselves who are like the crowds who came to see him. There on the shore waiting for baptism are our shame, our fear, our anger, our hurt, our sense of rejection and inadequacy. The message and ministry of John the Baptist says that these rejected and marginal parts of ourselves are simply waiting to be embraced by God, the difficult parts of ourselves that will lead us to God. Faced and embraced our fear will become prudence and discretion. Our anger will be channeled into energy for building the Reign of God. Invited into the light of love our shame, rejection and inadequacy become the deep humility that creates room for God.<br /><br />Listen! Do you hear him? Look! Do you see him? There on the margins, in the corners, in the wilderness of our hearts John the Baptist continues to shout and interrupt our pleasant lives. Today is the coming of God. Today is the coming of new life.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-19064091526260703302011-11-16T15:52:00.000-08:002011-11-16T15:56:00.890-08:00Feast Days and Black Fridays<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJqq_8o2WTZb-W_q5MSBCu175ikQVYD-yYAvT7n3cnBLj9H2Qkoh2qyw7fQnxID8dzRRscrz_kTQBOpLStgzPf4Mdw9a4LxIuHB1v7ayD9baGqK7vP7SwRf8g81OMj9PUrdOLT_P7riA/s1600/STGERTRU.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCJqq_8o2WTZb-W_q5MSBCu175ikQVYD-yYAvT7n3cnBLj9H2Qkoh2qyw7fQnxID8dzRRscrz_kTQBOpLStgzPf4Mdw9a4LxIuHB1v7ayD9baGqK7vP7SwRf8g81OMj9PUrdOLT_P7riA/s320/STGERTRU.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5675746163897112962" /></a><br />Do you sense a deep longing or emptiness deep in your heart? I suspect that most people, if they are able to be deeply still and honest have such a feeling. It’s that feeling of something missing, something incomplete deep in our being.<br /><br />The question is what we do with that feeling. Recently I spent a little while in a shopping mall. I’ve never been big on shopping, the walls seem to start to close in after about 15 minutes, but something new struck me this time. In this temple of consumerism there was a palpable energy. Large numbers of people were busy, milling about, searching as they plowed through the infinite variety of things they could buy. And all of these people were looking for some kind of satisfaction. Maybe it was something very simple, a new pair of slippers or the fun of watching a movie, maybe it was the more complicated shopping list of Christmas presents, but they all wanted something here at the mall. They all came with some need.<br /><br />The foundation of our contemporary society is then based on the fulfillment of these sorts of needs. We are told over and over that the economy will not improve until people start to spend. Soon, the day after Thanksgiving, will be “black Friday.” This is the key barometer of our economy, the beginning of the Christmas season. If consumers spend enough on this key shopping day then the stores will be in the “black” and all will be well in the global market place. We live in a world in which we think that our most important needs can be satisfied by spending and consuming.<br /><br />Before I had gone into the mall I had been reflecting, or maybe worrying, that our monastic life isn’t really that different from anyone else’s. Contrary to popular mis-conception we don’t float around all day smiling beatifically and doing nothing but praying. We work too hard, we aren’t always nice to one another, we may watch too much TV or read trashy books and yes, go to the mall once in a while. So I’d been worrying that our monastic way wasn’t monastic enough. <br /><br />But today I can see that there really is something different about our way of life. Today is the Feast of St. Gertrude the Great our patroness here at the monastery. We celebrate with a special liturgy, festive meals and decorations and we remember Gertrude, a Benedictine nun in 13th century Germany. Gertrude was above all a mystic, her experience of God was deep, personal and sustaining. Gertrude knew that the need longing of her heart was for God and that in God alone would her longing be satisfied. She expresses this in her writings. “Although my heart distracts itself with perishable things, I must add that even after hours, days or weeks, when I returned to my heart, I always found you there…. My you forever find me living in you as you live in me.” <br /><br />Today we celebrate a woman who knew the depths of her longing, her sense of incompleteness, her desire to be fulfilled and complete. But she had entered deeply into the source of her need. Gertrude knew that all the things that distract us cannot satisfy us. Even in a 13th century convent there were distractions and temptations, other people to gossip about, food to complain about, work schedules to be overwhelmed by, off-key liturgies and material goods to desire. But unlike most of us Gertrude had a gift of cutting through the illusions of her desires to enter into the reality that her deepest hunger is for God and God alone will satisfy the vague, persistent longing of our hearts.<br /><br />This is the essence of monastic life whether lived by those in monasteries, oblates living in the “world” or by people everywhere with monastic hearts. To be a monastic is to recognize that what we want cannot be found at the mall, that a healthy society cannot be built on consumption, that in God alone do we know our rest, our belonging, the satisfaction of our desires.<br /> <br />In one of her books Gertrude addressed her readers: “Almighty and most generous God of all goodness, deign to nourish us sufficiently along the way of our exile, until we look upon the glory of the Face of the Lord, no longer veiled and going from glory to glory transformed by your most sweet spirit.” May this be our prayer too as we celebrate this amazing woman and anticipate celebrating Advent in a way that satisfies our deepest heart’s needs.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-62146971348681394902011-11-10T17:03:00.001-08:002011-11-10T20:44:17.368-08:00Is Fall a Benedictine Season?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlai4ezJxmI5kviXIV6gpXMRQPx45ajgDhrN-zTFW5U2E1pCzXpK_RbuieFbtdXnDr8Sk8SrKf5vysoKAVttBPh70zgE2frIWog8s1UPrrUSFqL1Y2IyjjGSrm4XUeJ_ghi_WcOLfSzd8/s1600/IMGP0294.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlai4ezJxmI5kviXIV6gpXMRQPx45ajgDhrN-zTFW5U2E1pCzXpK_RbuieFbtdXnDr8Sk8SrKf5vysoKAVttBPh70zgE2frIWog8s1UPrrUSFqL1Y2IyjjGSrm4XUeJ_ghi_WcOLfSzd8/s320/IMGP0294.JPG" /></a></div>It is clearly fall. We are busily raking leaves. The sky is gray with a promise of snow. The wind has a cold edge to it. It is a season of letting go. The trees let go of the abundance that was summer. Animals prepare for the letting go of a winters cold and deprivation. We are reminded of this letting go in the chapel where the long banners hang listing the sisters who are now in eternity. Under the high altar the relics are displayed of the saints who let go and have gone before us as witnesses. But perhaps this letting go isn’t something unique to this time of year but something inherent to what it means to be Benedictine.<br /><br />To be a monastic is to let go of many things. When we enter the monastery we let go of traditional family relationships and the possibility of marriage or a committed relationship. We let go of most private property, personal income, the expectation that we can one day retire and do whatever we want to. As monastics we let go of a lot of what many people feel entitled to, lots of personal space, a life with clear boundaries between work and personal time.<br /><br />But there is a much more fundamental letting go that is at the heart of monastic life. In the Prologue to his Rule Benedict says his remarks should only be read: “if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all…” If we are really paying attention and taking this seriously we should probably be terrified when we read this. What could it possibly mean to give up our “own will once and for all?” It is difficult enough to imaging giving up property, relationships and opportunities. What is Benedict asking?<br /><br />Benedict is speaking to an invitation that it is at the heart of the spiritual journey and an invitation that crosses the boundaries of most faith traditions, many schools of psychology and the lived experience of spiritual seekers. Ultimately, if we are to be transformed, and come to experience that we are truly made in the image of God, we will have to let go of the illusion of control that we all cling to so tightly. In modern terms we usually call this the ego, in Benedict’s terms it is “self-will.” It is the mechanism that allows us all to think that we can control our destiny, that we are in charge and determine the outcome of our actions.<br /><br />This action of self-will or ego is necessary to get us through the day, it allows us to function in our jobs and families, it allows us to be good people and accomplish good things. But our ego, our self-will, tends to expand to fill all the space we will give it. Pretty soon there is very little room for a relationship with God that we do not control, dictating to God through prayer, piety and belief how we expect God to act on our behalf. Our ego or self-will while necessary begins to crowd out an ability to let go, to trust, to simply be open. It is natural, if we are honest, to be scared to let go, as Benedict says, of our “own will once and for all.” After all, that letting go will feel like death to the healthy ego, to anyone with a strong sense of self.<br /><br />But Benedict and the great wisdom figures across faith traditions know that the only way to true life is through letting go the illusion of control that the ego clings to so mightily. For Benedict this letting go will result in true humility, a state in which “perfect love casts out fear.” It is only in the letting go that we create room for God, room for new life, room for healing and love.<br /><br />So fall is a season of letting go in the earth, a preparing for the death of winter. But if letting go is truly embraced it creates a deep expectation of hope, of new life. In winter is the promise of spring. As Christians we let go, we do not cling to our own illusion of control or our life because we know that the tomb will be empty and new life awaits.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-63245543508879308482011-10-24T16:17:00.000-07:002011-10-24T16:22:16.294-07:00Dancing, Death and Denial<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUjeJVgXIDuKCRzdkFFd_V3qO8yqFx6U2xpLBMv8OsvZqtTHHcREw8CHfckUKYOVMmilPgcF7zOXUqsgyfalcAsT7-ORUOsl7JTRKQmjtzQ769kOSLo-nLehp7666qZeebF9KoczzuNs/s1600/dancing.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 203px; height: 248px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPUjeJVgXIDuKCRzdkFFd_V3qO8yqFx6U2xpLBMv8OsvZqtTHHcREw8CHfckUKYOVMmilPgcF7zOXUqsgyfalcAsT7-ORUOsl7JTRKQmjtzQ769kOSLo-nLehp7666qZeebF9KoczzuNs/s320/dancing.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5667202248711230194" /></a><br />I suspect that death is to our culture what sex was to Victorian England. It goes on all the time (after all, where did all those little Victorians come from?) but no one talks about it. Death is the ultimate taboo reality. But of course the irony is that death is the one thing we will all have in common, the fate that unites every single one of us.<br /><br />This reality has become very concrete this last week at the monastery as we have experienced three deaths in the last couple of weeks as well as another death only a little over a month ago. Whatever denial we may have been able to maintain has been quickly stripped away in a flurry of farewells and funerals.<br /><br />As this denial is stripped away we are left with the deeper understanding of St. Benedict’s invitation. “Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die.” (RB 4:47) Contrary to modern sensibilities Benedict did not have a morbid fixation on death, rather he knew that we have to face death head on, without flinching, if we are to truly live and appreciate life. When we remind ourselves that we are going to die then life becomes less of an entitlement, something we deserve, and more of a wonderful, temporary gift to be rejoiced in every day.<br /><br />When we remind ourselves daily of death we are more aware that life and death cannot be separated, we only know life because of the reality of death. Death is not something to be denied but held and celebrated as the culmination of life. Perhaps death is the final gift from God. Benedict calls the monastery “the school of the Lord’s service,” and maybe it is in death we finally graduate from this school. Like the other graduations we have known death is a hope-filled, fear-filled leap into the unknown. In death we face the final letting go of all that is familiar into the hope of a new reality.<br /><br />Of course what makes death so difficult and denial so easy is that death is the ultimate loss of what we know, what we control, of who we are. Part of our denial is the way we fast-forward to our expectations of eternal life and fail to be honest that most people fight death, that death is not pretty or nice, it is seldom easy and painless. We embrace the hope of eternal life but perhaps our hope is too facile, superficial and easy. Paul said: " ….Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what is seen? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience." (Romans 8:24-25) As we affirm hope in the midst of death perhaps we need to admit that our hope is something ultimately unknown, it is the deep, profound hope of letting go into a reality none of us has seen. Death is letting go of all that we have ever known. It is jumping into the darkness based on a promise.<br /><br />But of course we will all have to make that jump eventually. All of us have the remarkable gift of this life as we walk along the edge of the cliff. On this journey Benedict reminds us not to pretend that there will be no end to the journey, that somehow we won’t have to look over the abyss, but he says keep that reality of death always in mind. Embrace it, walk with it, hold its hand. It is only in death that we have the gift of life. As we walk along the cliff let us dance because we have been give so great a gift, the gift of life, the gift of death that gives meaning to our hope.<br /><br />This week in the monastery as we remember Aelred, Josie and Mercedes we know that they have entered into the darkness in hope, dancing with death as they are lead into new life. Their death, our death, which is daily before our eyes, is an invitation into the fullness of life.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-33059221267813451162011-10-17T19:05:00.000-07:002011-10-17T19:11:57.145-07:00What is Your Rule?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrGd3HxepT5_hXACqvYpRK8NnCWJaPzLzdaql4b7el75PY7F8DB4rM4k53LecgnslMuTPHzUzAojk99xI8TH5Vr1o2rUycciU44E-y8yRNLsalFGTvsYHB0-1fQgwxM8Brl9TWmQ7HwY/s1600/Rule-of-Saint-Benedict.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 225px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQrGd3HxepT5_hXACqvYpRK8NnCWJaPzLzdaql4b7el75PY7F8DB4rM4k53LecgnslMuTPHzUzAojk99xI8TH5Vr1o2rUycciU44E-y8yRNLsalFGTvsYHB0-1fQgwxM8Brl9TWmQ7HwY/s320/Rule-of-Saint-Benedict.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5664648742761906130" /></a>There is a stereotype or perhaps just a misconception that people come to monasteries to escape the world. However, not only has that never been true but increasingly people are asking how they can replicate the experience of the monastery in their lives in the “world.” People are increasingly coming to monasteries not to join them, nor to escape the world in any way but to take some sense of the monastery with them as they return home to families, jobs, lives that are hectic and where it feels hard to carve out time and space for God.<br /><br />Perhaps people don’t realize that when they come to the monastery and then want to replicate monastic life at home they are really saying that they want to live by a monastic “rule.” A monastic rule isn’t a book of regulations like the driver’s handbook or a bureaucratic manual for a government department. A rule, from the Latin <span style="font-style:italic;">regula</span>, is a guidebook. It is a guide for people who want to live a life structured around their desire to know God at the depths of their being, a guidebook for a life centered on God.<br /><br />While there were other monastic rules at the time of Benedict in the 6th century, his became known as a very practical, moderate rule. While some other monastic rules were very short and inspirational they tended to be short on practical details for actually living out such high ideals. Other rules were extremely detailed, covering at great length exactly how a monk was to live. Benedict’s genius was to balance a clear explanation of the values and ideals of a life centered on God with the insights and wisdom of practical experience. Benedict knew that we need to articulate the most important values in our life and at the same time we need to know how we are going to live out those values. This balance of ideals and pragmatism resulted in Benedict’s rule that monastics still live by today.<br /><br />But people don’t have to live in a monastery to live according to a rule. Most of us have an implicit rule we live by. If family is a key value in our lives then we make sure that we structure our lives in such a way that there are regular family meals, vacations together, regular contact. If there are conflicts that interfere with our family activities we still make family a priority if at all possible rather than letting other activities take precedence. If education is a value then other things will be sacrificed to make sure that this value is put first. Savings may go toward tuition rather than vacations, television may happen only if there is a high enough GPA. These are examples of how a rule of life works: structures are put in place to enable a person to live out their values.<br /><br />The key value of any monastic rule is the desire to grow closer to God, to be transformed in God’s image. Other key values simply flow out of this. As monastics we value prayer, service, humility, community as ways of expressing our desire to grow in relationship with God. Monastic life then creates structures to make it easier to live out those values. Daily times of prayer, living simply with few possessions, deferring to the needs of the group rather than our own wants are all ways we structure our life to achieve our goals.<br /><br />No way of life is easy, whether it is celibate life in a monastery, single life, raising children. But we can all use help to become conscious of the deeper purpose of our life. It is easy to simply make choices and take actions without reflection, without looking at the deeper meaning. But if we understand that we can live according to a spiritual “rule” then perhaps life begins to look and feel different. If I can articulate the deepest values of my heart, what is truly most important to me, then I can begin to ask what will help me live out those values. If relationship with God is my deepest desire then how do I structure my life to make that happen? How do I begin with small changes that become habits that become the structures of a life lived for God? In other words how do I become a monastic in the world? Perhaps a monastic rule is something for many people beyond the walls of a physical monastery.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-40929913000802478142011-09-26T11:26:00.000-07:002011-09-26T11:28:47.090-07:00Connections and Beans<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2RAacJrmLaYHhQWXYC_vj_akfZyJPzKgTwZt2kZiBkGAjcAMDsmsPzoCxufB5qVQ6CTiSGzBkJQr-QBC0r_xti-46ppMx7WBxT15DHU1JuT9tMtcJsH9mvfLGlEsHabN9LeGglOKgM0/s1600/canning.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2RAacJrmLaYHhQWXYC_vj_akfZyJPzKgTwZt2kZiBkGAjcAMDsmsPzoCxufB5qVQ6CTiSGzBkJQr-QBC0r_xti-46ppMx7WBxT15DHU1JuT9tMtcJsH9mvfLGlEsHabN9LeGglOKgM0/s320/canning.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5656736936657185554" /></a>It is canning time again at the monastery. Thanks to the great generosity of some Knights of Columbus members from Caldwell, Idaho we have boxes and boxes and boxes of fresh fruits and vegetables to eat, can and enjoy. We are also harvesting from our garden, this week is green beans and cucumbers. The old kitchen is a hive of activity, wonderful sights and smells as many people help out to make the work load lighter.<br /><br />On special days there is an overlap between canning and baking. We bake all our own bread, fifty loaves a week of brown and white bread in our bakery. So sometimes there is an interesting overlap of smells. Beets and bread anyone?<br /><br />This commitment to growing, canning, food preservation, baking and similar aspects of self-sufficiency are central to who we are as Benedictine monastics. In an era of agribusiness and huge factory farms it seems unlikely that home canned beets or homemade bread is cost efficient. But there is a much deeper value at play than simple economics.<br /><br />All that we produce is a witness of a much deeper sense of connection. We know where the bread we eat came from. We picked the raspberries that went on the raspberry jam that went on the bread. We helped to prepare the beans and beets and canned the tomatoes, pears and peaches. We grew the squash and lettuce. We actively participated in much of what we eat, we know where it came from, who grew and harvested it.<br /><br />We live in a world in which this kind of connection has become a rare thing. We hear the stories of children who don’t know where food comes from except from a grocery store. How many adults have actually seen their food come from anywhere but the grocery store? This disconnect in our society goes much deeper than food. Many of us do not know our neighbors, our families are distant, work is a temporary commitment.<br /><br />In a world that is disconnected, alienated and disenfranchised, monastics try to witness a new/older reality. Benedict enjoined his monks to be self-sufficient, to have everything they need in one place. While we cannot do that anymore we can still live a life that emphasizes the value of deep connections. As monastics we see these connections and the fragility of connections in ways that most society does not.<br /><br />When we grow our own food we are reminded that we are at the mercy of nature. The rain doesn’t come or comes in the wrong amount or at the wrong times, we won’t have the home grown food we enjoy. We witness our connection to the earth, our dependence on the earth, and in some very slight way know the joy and suffering of those who do not have the local supermarket as a backup for crop failure.<br /><br />Coming together to harvest and preserve food is a reminder of those who work in difficult, underpaid jobs to provide the food we take for granted. As we work together we know that we cannot take our food for granted, that it does not appear magically on the table but as the fruit of much work and God’s bounty. When we work together we remember that we are community, we are committed to one another in good times and bad, with the ones we like and the ones we don’t. We are connected, we are committed for life in an impermanent world.<br /><br />It doesn’t look like much at first, the piles of beans and cucumbers, the boxes of peaches to be canned, the bread cooling on racks on bake day. But there are deep lessons that come from the gift of the most simple things. In the beans we come to know how deeply we are blessed, how intimately we are connected with all things and are reminded of the call to serve those without.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-44438842131312655952011-08-20T09:22:00.000-07:002011-08-20T09:27:03.387-07:00Monastic Prayer: For the World<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBD02YVLikf0DPlBAY3t3TiMH4rMSOCTx4dM8nC-eqclKVz7dDV5SGL_xqDXStvJBVl2AgRBM-rhaCuN9hKXsl-BncEWLwC0q0XypvHB-QzQUOpfe4HOwxB1dBkPIGz9ofFI0FBJFeKI/s1600/lighting+candle.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 223px; height: 226px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmBD02YVLikf0DPlBAY3t3TiMH4rMSOCTx4dM8nC-eqclKVz7dDV5SGL_xqDXStvJBVl2AgRBM-rhaCuN9hKXsl-BncEWLwC0q0XypvHB-QzQUOpfe4HOwxB1dBkPIGz9ofFI0FBJFeKI/s320/lighting+candle.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5642975139327055554" /></a>What happens when monks pray? It is easy enough to simply say: that is what we do. We gather multiple times a day to pray in common because that is what Benedictines have been doing for over 1500 years. But of course that begs the question. What does this prayer mean? What is happening as we come together several times a day, day after day, year after year, with the same Psalms, the same prayers? Benedict isn’t much help. He outlines precisely which Psalms and other readings to prayer at precisely what hours of the day, but he doesn’t do too much to explain what is happening when monks pray.
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<br />Maybe it is helpful to simply start with the experience of praying. Multiple times a day a bell rings and the world shifts. When the bell rings the world no longer revolves around me and my needs. I am called to give up being the center of my own private little universe and come in silence, in openness, to a place that is only about prayer, a place where all of us come to sink into the presence of God, to open our hearts to the needs of a hurting world.
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<br />I may come into our chapel, the oratory, place of prayer, as an individual, but I become part of a community of God-centered people, a community that jokingly calls itself a “motley crew.” Together this motley crew gathers to enter into the presence of God, of one another and the world. In stillness we become present, allowing ourselves to let go of all that has come before and will come after. We enter the reality of prayer.
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<br />In this reality we strive to be one voice, our “minds in harmony with our voices.” (RB 19) The Psalms and prayers become one mind and one voice lifted together in praise, in supplication, in despair and joy. In the Psalms we pray words that that have been prayed across three thousand years, throughout our world, across religious traditions. In prayer we lift up to God words and feelings that may not be our own at the moment, but may be the words of people who have no words, people who do not know how to pray, people to engulfed in despair to pray. For these people we chant and recite words calling to God from the depths, words imploring God to act and bring about justice where there is only injustice and suffering. In the midst of our comfortable world we enter into the pain and despair of people we will never know lifting up our voices as their voices, praying for healing and justice.
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<br />In coming together in our prayer we recite the Psalms that remind us how much bigger our world and our God is than our limited ability to imagine. We come together to stretch our hearts in proclaiming the tremendous joy of the Psalmist in praising the God who is creator, sustainer, source of all life and power. The confines of our flat, gray universe are shattered as we join in a wild, exuberant dance of life and energy celebrating the God who reigns and sustains our universe. Our joy becomes the joy of all who celebrate, hope and come singing to the mountain of the Lord.
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<br />When we come together we enter into the world of prayer where the deep hurts and divisions of our community are brought to a truce. Together as we pray the Psalms, the prayers of an ancient community, and the Our Father, the prayer of our Christian community, we experience a tentative reaching out to one another, a holding of hands, the beginnings of healing. We come into prayer as broken people, as the stubborn, stiff-necked people of the desert, the Pharisees who have safely domesticated God, the people who cannot see their own limitations and lack of forgiveness. Here in prayer the people of hardened hearts are given another opportunity to receive a heart of flesh, to forgive and be forgiven. We do it for ourselves, we do it on behalf of people who have no such opportunity to come together, in community, to pray multiple times a day, to have their hearts broken open.
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<br />And so the rhythm continues, day after day, year after year. The bell rings, we drop everything, come to the place of prayer and silence. Together we pray ancient words, ancient prayers. We pray for those who cannot pray, for those who have no words. We pray for ourselves, lifting up our brokenness in order that our slow, painful healing may be offered for a hurting world. We pray in joy, present and hoped for, that the world may see a glimpse of the Reign of God breaking into the world.
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<br />Together we pray.
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<br />Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-1940053843958800662011-07-21T11:21:00.000-07:002011-07-21T11:25:16.690-07:00Adaptive asceticism for the spiritually unathletic<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0W70Ufd9Zx6wfL_YpSXXWLbx7vOET7p-OqE4_DlPh4lOAVV9exhceUhJHVBvnmT1fLAZlYe-uG4B6vxijlYOt5z4FFubPqZ0UikP7ggmS0DmNwBD56ePReBn2NHu1MJ1a2f2MRmoO-E/s1600/Malevich_running-man.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 254px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiS0W70Ufd9Zx6wfL_YpSXXWLbx7vOET7p-OqE4_DlPh4lOAVV9exhceUhJHVBvnmT1fLAZlYe-uG4B6vxijlYOt5z4FFubPqZ0UikP7ggmS0DmNwBD56ePReBn2NHu1MJ1a2f2MRmoO-E/s320/Malevich_running-man.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5631873053043979410" /></a>I have been giving a series of classes recently on the early monks of the desert. The stories of these men women are full of great feats of asceticism. They go into the desert, seek to pray without ceasing, fast, live alone, give up material possessions and fight with inner and outer demons. I point out that although the way of life of these early monastics is clearly ascetic, we need to remember that asceticism comes from the Greek root meaning to train like an athlete. In other words these people weren’t out to intentionally make themselves suffer they were training for the great spiritual journey they were on.<br /><br />It is with that background that I was struck by the reading of a portion of the Rule of Benedict from the other day. We read a portion of Benedict’s Rule every morning at prayer and a couple of days ago we heard that Benedict said in his monastery there should always be two kinds of cooked food at a meal, plus a generous pound of bread and fresh fruit or vegetables if available. This is important so that if someone cannot one kind of dish then they will be able to eat the other dish.<br /><br />Suddenly it struck me: where is the fasting, where is the asceticism, the discipline of having to deny our food cravings, our desire for special foods or novelty at meals? Isn’t Benedict just indulging his monks weaknesses rather than demanding the spiritual asceticism demonstrated by these early saints of the desert tradition? Benedict clearly wasn’t calling on his followers to train like these early spiritual athletes. So what did asceticism mean to Benedict?<br /><br />On reflecting on the contrast between the example of the desert fathers and mothers and what Benedict calls his “little rule for beginners,” an image from junior high school came to mind. Back in the days before rigorous budget cuts for public school education, we all had to take physical education every day. For kids with temporary or permanent physical limitations there was something called “adaptive PE” that was designed to accommodate limitations. Being perfectly able-bodied but completely and totally unathletic I was always somewhat envious of this option and hoped that there could somehow be physical education for us uncoordinated klutzes, some way that we could be physically active without feeling like such misfits amidst the athletes.<br /><br />Now I think that this may be precisely what Benedict was doing for spiritually challenged athletes, creating an “adaptive” form of asceticism. Most of us could not begin to handle the great feats of asceticism recounted in the stories of St. Anthony of Egypt. We wouldn’t get very far in emulating the stories from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers. We would fail in obedience if we were told to just sit in our cell and be silent or to go water a dry stick for weeks. And yet there are those of us who nonetheless want to seek God more deeply, more truly in our lives. This then is the way of life that Benedict sets out. He specifically calls for “nothing harsh and nothing burdensome.” He makes sure that everyone in his monastery gets what they need, enough food, enough clothes, enough support.Benedict created a spiritual way of life that average people could live, a way not for aspiring saints but ordinary people with an extraordinary desire to know God with their whole heart and their whole life.<br /><br />Today, living in an intentional, celibate community with few possessions or money, a structured day, an emphasis on ministry, may seem quite ascetic to people who are used to a life without anyone imposing limits on them. But the reality is that Benedict’s way is still a way that is not designed for the spiritual athlete. Benedict’s way is for the spiritual coach potato who knows she is being called to more, not to run a spiritual marathon next week but to get up, to move, to make slow and plodding progress on the great adventure of the spiritual journey. Benedict’s way is for those who will come to know what he means when he says: “But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.”Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-23702618338209801192011-07-01T12:51:00.000-07:002011-07-01T12:55:20.799-07:00Monasticism, Young Adults and Building Structures of Faith<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYU_-68CYDLbpsIxsD__By3WHZg7fxz0w1gYyGKH88-W0R4YySIg6n7a9UYnb5ZD1EoZVjikfojC3SWT7GgtEE5oaIrBQ1Mjemq0yNr35DO0rwkv0BsG82AB7ZefNq1EzpicZVnLSShE/s1600/young+people.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 285px; height: 177px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcYU_-68CYDLbpsIxsD__By3WHZg7fxz0w1gYyGKH88-W0R4YySIg6n7a9UYnb5ZD1EoZVjikfojC3SWT7GgtEE5oaIrBQ1Mjemq0yNr35DO0rwkv0BsG82AB7ZefNq1EzpicZVnLSShE/s320/young+people.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5624474509716853746" /></a>Recently I reflected on the fact that many people attracted to Benedictine life today seem to be middle-age seekers. While that is certainly true it isn’t the whole picture by any means. There is a whole set of people who also seem to be finding our monastery in particular and Benedictine spirituality in general to be something that feeds a deep hunger in their souls.<br /><br />We have always had a trickle of young adults coming to the monastery and that trickle seems to be on its way to a small stream. People come and then they come back and bring their friends. This summer we have had a very good response to our first “Monastic Immersion Program” with several young women participating.<br /><br />It makes me wonder what appeals to 20 and 30-something women and men who come and spend some time with a group of women who are the age of their grandmothers or great-grandmothers. Our music isn’t the same, most of us think social networking is something that happens at parties and all of us not only remember typewriters but we used them well into adulthood and very few of us even know how to spell much less connect to YouTube. So what is the attraction?<br /><br />In general younger folks seem to be fascinated by the idea of a whole way of life that is structured around faith and the desire for God. Praying three times a day, having time and space for silence, living simply, being committed to a community, these are all novel and impressive characteristics to younger people. This is appropriate since the life tasks in our 20’s and 30’s are mostly about engaging in the external work of becoming a competent adult in the world. During these decades we need to learn how to handle relationships, work, independence, how to be a competent, self-sufficient adult. In other words we need to build ourselves up and create the inner and outer structures that will allow us to be mature and be successful.<br /><br />Maybe that is why it seems to be the lifestyle and structure that is so appealing to these youngsters (there comes a point in life when anyone under 40 seems like a youngster!). Patterns and habits are still being set. Common questions involve how do I develop a prayer practice that works for me, how do I hold on to my values if they aren’t shared by my peers, is there a way of life that values faith as central rather than peripheral? And these are all questions and issues that are central to monastic life. Perhaps the genius of monastic life and the reason it has survived for centuries is that it addresses the faith questions of every generation. When we are younger we need structures and common values. When we reach middle age we need the support to undertake the inner journey of dismantling the hard won ego accomplishments of youth. In old age monastic life will help us sort through the struggle to make sense of what our lives have been.<br /><br />It is wonderful to see a parade of young adults participating in our Benedictine balance of prayer, work and community. Those of us who will still be here when they leave are reminded that we offer an experience and vision of a life focused on God for people of all ages and backgrounds. That is a wonderful experience even for those of us who remember when computers required punch cards.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-86754578245308632662011-05-25T19:25:00.000-07:002011-05-25T19:30:29.153-07:00Monasteries: Schools of Middle-Age Meaning<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6qaJjCO3x_VAifSraJKNvusP2w2SZC8H15WPycfcO97kkZlZcrJpVR8cVRIWIYbQfnzn72tdyDJiU4Whgw38CFRRp57THtGkhqYWsmFywb2tdSjfSpAaaWyG6VsdLYoJ55B0RipSGrM/s1600/Searching%252C+11x14+Silver+Gelatin+Print+%2528Large%2529.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS6qaJjCO3x_VAifSraJKNvusP2w2SZC8H15WPycfcO97kkZlZcrJpVR8cVRIWIYbQfnzn72tdyDJiU4Whgw38CFRRp57THtGkhqYWsmFywb2tdSjfSpAaaWyG6VsdLYoJ55B0RipSGrM/s320/Searching%252C+11x14+Silver+Gelatin+Print+%2528Large%2529.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5610846218003685762" /></a>An interesting thing happened somewhere along the line in recent monastic life. Monasteries seem to have become largely about middle-age. Most of the women who are attracted to our way of life are middle-aged. Most of our retreatants are middle-aged. Most of our oblates are middle-aged. If you throw in the employees and volunteers there might be a little more variety but it would still probably average out to middle age. What on earth is going on?<br /> <br />When most of our sisters entered St. Gertrude’s they were quite young, most of them teen-agers or at most young adults. A few of them still talk about being one of the “old” ones if they entered at the ripe old age of 28 or 29. Now today it is a popular topic to wonder what happened to young people entering community or participating in other ways. So what happened to our “chronological diversity?”<br /><br />As with most questions it is dangerous to posit an easy or simple answer, but perhaps we have trouble seeing the possibility that just as monasteries have always done we are responding to the needs of the times. Monasteries have never been about just one type of ministry, one way of being community, one way of being monastic. The flexibility and adaptability of Benedictine life has been one of the keys to the survival of monasticism. In the Church prior to Vatican II there was a tremendous need for Catholic education. Young women came to religious life, to St. Gertrude’s, to engage in an important, clear, tangible ministry. If you were a young woman who came to our community in 1960 you pretty much knew that you would serve the Church as a teacher or a nurse. It was a commitment to a life that seemed clear, that had answers, that had a specific ministry, that was set apart from and even above that of other people. This promise would have a great appeal to young people. Youth is about certainty and answers. Heroic self-sacrifice for a common ideal is something that stirs deeply in young hearts.<br /><br />So what happened? Sisters aged along with the incredible winds of change in the Church and life become less simple, the answers less clear, a depth of understanding and maturity began to be required that had not been before. Ministry became a broader concept than it had been and choices proliferated. Religious life began to speak to new needs, new callings, new hungers. And so the world needs the witness and ministry of monastic life today as much as it did fifty years ago, but witness is of a different kind.<br /><br />Perhaps that is why we often seem over-run with the middle-aged. Middle-age is the fruitful, scary, disconcerting, exhilarating time of life when everything seems up for grabs. Unlike youth this is not a time of answers or trying on new identities. It is a time when the answers seem to dissolve in your hand like cotton candy on a hot day. Middle age is a time when the mountains of achievement have either been climbed or abandoned and it is time to go deeper, to go inside and look for answers that used to be outside. In middle-age is the time for reflection, questions, wondering, slowing down and evaluating. In the middle of life it is time to look for meaning.<br /><br />This is where monasteries come in. What is a monastery about if not meaning: deep, profound, fundamental, essential meaning. What is my faith; how do I pray; who is God; how do I love; why do we suffer; the questions of meaning that were ignored and passed by blindly are now huge stumbling blocks that seem to loom suddenly out of nowhere and threaten to hurl us headlong into our fears. But what is the school for the middle-aged, the school of meaning?<br /><br />Perhaps modern monasteries are the new schools for meaning for the middle-aged. Benedict called his monastery “a school of the Lord’s service” and this is really the same thing. When people come to a monastery they are able to ask and explore the important questions of their life. Monasteries are necessarily not about answers but they are about being able to ask and live with the questions. And wrestling with questions that have no answers is perhaps the hallmark of middle-age.<br />Looking around the monastery there are lots of middle-aged fellow travelers, people on a new journey to know God and their faith in a new way, people who are beginning to suspect that the old answers and certainties are never coming back. Here at the monastery we just stand by the door and welcome people to the first day at this new kind of school.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-42138535310737266652011-05-08T19:07:00.000-07:002011-05-08T19:12:10.204-07:00Prayer of the Monastic Elders<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4X_L3DZYGZVydIs7x_PfLkGd5yHEZw7FMeCdshthrPGt6J0GhRE_2f_4yf-dCwyly1THbgDdQikhGhiwZ8KzLFFn4E3haGzvCB2qNeHCbDl10ljWWpu5V3Pl-c-6uG2IOflcK-WGYgc/s1600/prayer1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 211px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi4X_L3DZYGZVydIs7x_PfLkGd5yHEZw7FMeCdshthrPGt6J0GhRE_2f_4yf-dCwyly1THbgDdQikhGhiwZ8KzLFFn4E3haGzvCB2qNeHCbDl10ljWWpu5V3Pl-c-6uG2IOflcK-WGYgc/s320/prayer1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5604532741857699186" /></a>Recently one of our elder sisters has taken a turn for the worse and it is hard to see her become even more diminished. It struck me though, that all of our elders, despite their challenges, come to prayer with us every day, three times a day. They participate to the extent they are able and we help them participate.<br /><br />They are an example of an important aspect of monastic prayer, it is prayer to the end, the prayer of endurance, the prayer that continues through diminishment, suffering and letting go. For these elders prayer has become the essence of prayer, it is simply being before God in the presence and with the support of community. For many of them it is now prayer beyond words and concepts, it is the prayer at its most simple and real.<br /><br />Perhaps this kind of prayer is the ultimate fruit of monastic life. Most of us we are about being busy, priding ourselves on how much we are accomplishing and sometimes being secretly resentful of having to interrupt our day with the call to prayer. But this busyness is an illusion, we think that all this work is really accomplishing something, that we are the important people in the community. But that is the advantage of praying in the midst of community. Those of us who are (relatively!) young and active are allowed to see the example of those whose entire lives have become prayer. They don’t interrupt their days to pray, their being has become prayer.<br /><br />Our culture tends not to value people who whom it considers marginal, people whose diminishment due to age or disability makes them unable to compete in our work and results centered society. But of course monasteries should be an alternative to that culture. Hopefully we can be at least a small witness to that ultimate, alternative society, the Reign of God. In this Reign of God it is not the obvious people who are central but instead the margins become the center. The people who come closest to manifesting this new society are not the ones with the most degrees, the most important titles or who get the most work done. In this little group of people struggling to make the Reign of God become manifest the people at the center are the ones who look like they are on the margins.<br /><br />I have a ways to go before I really enter into this new reality. I would rather pray with all my distracted faculties, conscious and aware of what I am praying, or at least conscious of my distraction. There will probably come a time when my prayer is as simple as some of our sisters and someone else will take me to prayer as a new generation prays the same Psalms and the same prayers and someone I’ve never met will give me the Body of Christ. I’m not ready for that yet just as probably none of our sisters ever thought she would be ready. The prayer of diminishment, the prayer of simply being is something that usually comes gradually. And that is appropriate since God’s grace is something that works on us slowly and gradually and it transforms regardless of how hard we work and indeed grace transforms us at the deepest level when we are unable to either resist or cooperate with it. So this is the prayer of our elders, the prayer of presence, the prayer of simply being, the prayer of witness. And this is their gift to us, a gift that if we are all lucky, we too will one day experience.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-21858043954562983882011-04-21T14:12:00.000-07:002011-04-21T14:15:59.797-07:00Liturgical Time - Deep Time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2uU1BAV1wR4yS5liC8yx7vA8G-HEbGpojBPytqLCRD5x7T-4UFXYqVoWVANpBaEDv3JW6ZPIvOzBrROUKLjT5TICXbbwFIaFijiiG3WRoWqKvQF3rI_RmhfxOlzUucLctoFlbpMniBU/s1600/db_26-Cross_of_the_Holy_Week.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 253px; height: 304px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgn2uU1BAV1wR4yS5liC8yx7vA8G-HEbGpojBPytqLCRD5x7T-4UFXYqVoWVANpBaEDv3JW6ZPIvOzBrROUKLjT5TICXbbwFIaFijiiG3WRoWqKvQF3rI_RmhfxOlzUucLctoFlbpMniBU/s320/db_26-Cross_of_the_Holy_Week.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598148047969085794" /></a>On Sunday we began Holy Week, the liturgical commemoration of the historical events in the last days of the life of Jesus of Nazareth 2,000 years ago. But we also entered into deep time, time that is not chronological, that speaks a truth of events that are re-enacted in our lives in an unconscious way.<br /><br />The American writer William Faulkner once said: “The past is not dead, it is not even past.” Perhaps this insight is nowhere more true than in Holy Week. We do not just commemorate the historical events of Jerusalem two millennia ago, we become conscious of the ways in which we live out Holy Week in our lives every day.<br /><br />On Palm Sunday we like to think that we are part of the cheering crowd, standing there waving palms and welcoming Jesus the Messiah into Jerusalem. After all, we think, we would have been among those who understood and supported Jesus from the beginning. It is easy to be caught up in the crowd’s wave of adulation, to be part of the energy of the collective, to ride the tide of excitement and fervor.<br /><br />But in our monastic celebration for Palm Sunday we follow the traditional practice of reading the account of the Passion on this day. We enter into the excitement of the crowd on Palm Sunday but we look forward to the fickleness of the crowd that will shortly be crying for blood. It is interesting that when the Passion narrative is read in public the part of the crowd is read by those in the pews. Those of us who are spectators at the liturgy once again become the spectators who were there in Jerusalem. And this time we are not on the side of the angels. On this day we become part of the crowd who has turned viciously on Jesus in the space of a few days. We go from adulation to retribution, from palms to cries of blood lust. The tide has turned and we along with it. We are the crowd crying out “crucify him, crucify him!”<br /><br />What has happened in these few days, what has happened to us? There was a palpable sense of hope in the triumphant entry into Jerusalem. Here was the Messiah, the Savior, the one who would make everything right, who would come in triumph to inaugurate a new order. But the new order was one of humility and suffering not power and might. The way would be neither quick nor easy. Then as now we are easily disappointed, we want simple answers and we want them now. Like spoiled children with short attention spans we have no patience for anything but having our way and having it now. The anger and disappointment of the crowd wells up in us still today. We want the easy way, the way of someone else doing the hard work for us. We don’t want the way of the cross.<br /><br />And so most of us sit in comfortable churches and chapels, the words speak of experiences and emotions that are distant, detached, far from our immediate experience. But perhaps the call of entering into the Passion, entering into the events of this Holy Week, is to experience them as real and present. If we enter into the reality of Holy Week we will see that we are part of both the supportive, cheering crowd and the angry mob crying for violence. We will be the ones who feel the poignant service of foot washing on Thursday. The pain of the torture of crucifixion will be ours on Friday. On Saturday the darkest despair will give way to hope as we pass over from darkness and death to light and life. <br /> <br />The call of this time is to be conscious, to be present, to enter into that deep time that is never past bu always present. We are called to live these stories, to know that they are not part of some long-ago, antiseptic past, but the events of Holy Week constitute the dynamic of our everyday lives. The call is to know that if we are not aware, not awake and conscious we will simply become a part of the angry mob. But if we are aware and awake we can enter into the difficult, painful, joyous and astounding reality of Holy Week as it repeated in the ordinary time of our everyday lives. We will learn to live in the present moment when the Paschal mystery is lived out in each of our lives.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-62121007077244164472011-04-02T16:04:00.000-07:002011-04-02T16:07:35.708-07:00A New Model of Politics<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFq5B6tivdpxjg4CA-ZUsONFyP8ru2aup3SM3yy3mCn5FDxULcmyI0VKSCMtqirwUXGkEhryCZDrPtUEjx9GXSaBPSdFumJTiFeczhHeCb0EVOvIzXCDoFimgbK0ByxiYAb0DXv1LQXxg/s1600/election.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 112px; height: 120px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFq5B6tivdpxjg4CA-ZUsONFyP8ru2aup3SM3yy3mCn5FDxULcmyI0VKSCMtqirwUXGkEhryCZDrPtUEjx9GXSaBPSdFumJTiFeczhHeCb0EVOvIzXCDoFimgbK0ByxiYAb0DXv1LQXxg/s320/election.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5591126327582100482" /></a>A couple of weeks ago we held an election here at the Monastery. But it was a very different type of election than most of people are used to. No money was spent on campaigns, there were no signs, no angry or even particularly stirring speeches and the election was over when everyone came to agreement and felt good about the process. In most elections in our country it frequently seems like the process brings out the worst in everyone but here at the monastery the process seems to bring out the best in us.<br /><br />In our community the prioress is elected for a six year term and can be re-elected for another four years. Several months before the election the community begins to prepare through prayer. Every evening for at least a couple of months before the election a special prayer is said by the whole community asking for God’s grace and wisdom for the sister to be elected and for the whole community to be open to the movement of the Spirit.<br /><br />The election process is formally opened in a ceremony in the chapel by the president of our federation, (a group of affiliated Benedictine monasteries that come together for mutual support and accountability.) This beginning reminds us that all decisions are rooted in prayer and the presence of God. The presence of the federation president and two sisters from other monasteries who will facilitate the election reminds us that we are part of a much greater whole, of all who live this Benedictine way of life.<br /><br />The process begins with a review of the goals the community had already established in previous meetings. The process moves on to discussing the names of sisters who have gifts that may make them good leaders for the community. This discussion is done at tables, respectfully looking at the qualities of quite a few sisters and how they have gifts to serve the community. This is a process of affirmation, there is no debate about who is better, there is no discussion about why someone isn’t suited for leadership.<br /><br />Out of a long list of names the sisters whose names have been mentioned most often are asked to prayerfully consider whether they would be willing to serve as prioress. This isn’t the same as asking her whether she wants to be prioress, but whether she can see herself serving in this role at this time. This small group of sisters is given time to think, reflect and pray about their decisions.<br />Those who are willing to serve are then invited to speak briefly about their leadership style, their gifts and limitations. The community members can then ask clarifying questions. The facilitators work with the sisters who are open to being elected and with the community so that the process is smooth, respectful and peaceful. After everyone has had a chance to speak and questions have been asked community members begin to vote. This process continues in silence until the community comes to “convergence” in selecting a particular sister.<br /><br />In the final step everyone convenes in the chapel, where the process began, and a formal vote is taken. The process is again grounded in prayer, in the place that is the heart of the community, and chairs are arranged in a circle to symbolize the egalitarian nature of our life. Each sister who is mentally able is invited to submit a ballot. After the voting is finished everyone lines up to hug the newly elected prioress and to offer her their support in the days ahead.<br /><br />In his Rule Benedict says that the leader should be someone elected on the basis of her “goodness of life and wisdom in teaching.” Desire for the job, ability to make grandiose promises and gifts of inflammatory rhetoric are not part of the qualifications. Being prioress is about the gift of service not the desire for power, it is a humble openness to listen, to help, to call others to be their best selves, for the community to be about the Reign of God. For the community it is a process of being open to see the gifts in one another and willingness to allow someone to exercise those gifts. Everyone in the community knows that in order for this process to work she must be her best self in order to serve as a leader or as one who supports the leader.<br /><br />In a world where many people have no opportunity for any kind of choice in their governance and many others do not appreciate the choices they have perhaps the Benedictine way can be a model that calls us all to be our best selves as we serve others.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8567497006429899119.post-42616781016117969482011-03-08T20:03:00.000-08:002011-03-08T20:09:08.144-08:00Giving Up Complacency For Lent<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQqEV7NjW5DT3oU0wt2wd2LmjLvJpUdFjlsqv1efocpSi_LH8zU7HsGyf_qdsqAt2LLWXDfliQfIPQwYl9VsOpOl9yKkQ2AB3zds2FyxGCzsZF00B__er7lMSg5rP34Pu-3LqoL3O9hk/s1600/Lent1.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 130px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhQqEV7NjW5DT3oU0wt2wd2LmjLvJpUdFjlsqv1efocpSi_LH8zU7HsGyf_qdsqAt2LLWXDfliQfIPQwYl9VsOpOl9yKkQ2AB3zds2FyxGCzsZF00B__er7lMSg5rP34Pu-3LqoL3O9hk/s320/Lent1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5581926906755804578" /></a>So what do monastics, whether monks, nuns or oblates have to give up for Lent? Most of us lead pretty simple lives, not a lot of possessions, a dedication to prayer and faith. I’m reminded of the joke that priests tell, that hearing the confessions of nuns is like being stoned to death by popcorn. No one is going to be startled by our attempts to be more holy. In his chapter on Lent Benedict emphasizes ascetical practices for Lent, giving up extra sleep, adding more prayer, that sort of thing. Personally I’ve never been sure that I end up being that much more holy or even that much more prepared for Lent through these kinds of practices.<br /><br />I suspect that what I need to give up for Lent is something much more fundamental, much more foundational in my spiritual life. Over the years as I’ve read and re-read the Gospels the more I am convinced that for Jesus one of the most fundamental sins was that of complacency. Over and over in the Gospels most ostensibly holy people, the Pharisees, those who observed God’s commandments in the greatest detail and depth, were the ones that Jesus most often took aim at. The Pharisees were the good, holy people of their society but they took the presence, the action of God in their lives for granted. They did everything right, they did what God asked of them but they ceased to be shocked, amazed, stunned, overwhelmed and surprised by God. They were always in control in their faith lives, they had God all figured out. They were complacent.<br /><br />In the face of this complacency Jesus came along and stripped, shattered and dismantled all their hard won faith and sense of control. Jesus shattered the safe, comfortable faith world of the Pharisees. He said that God cannot be taken for granted, God’s love and grace are meant to shock us and knock us flat on our backside every time we encounter them, day after day. What the novelist Flannery O’Connor described could easily apply to the message of Jesus: "When you can assume that your audience holds the same beliefs you do, you can relax and use more normal means of talking to it; when you have to assume that it does not, then you have to make your vision apparent by shock -- to the hard of hearing you shout, and for the almost-blind you draw large and startling figures." <br /><br />I won’t assume to speak to the experience of anyone else, Lent and conscience are very personal things. But I know that I tend to wince pretty hard when I encounter the Gospels and the self-satisfaction of the Pharisees. My faith journey tends to become nice and even and well paved, it is easy to coast or to assume that my hard work is the work of transformation rather than just the daily work that needs to be done. I find it easy to become the complacent Pharisee keeping God safely in a box.<br /><br />So perhaps my Lenten challenge will be to cultivate a renewed sense of the power of God’s presence in my life. Thankfulness, awareness of the gift of God’s presence ought to cause me to tremble down to my toes. The knowledge of how deeply and indiscriminately I and all people are loved by God should take my breath away every time I think of it. The reality of grace is something that should knock me over every time I realize the wonder of the gift.<br /><br />Perhaps this is the real gift of Lent, the gift of the ashes of Wednesday. Our repentance is not for the trivial sins that characterize most of our lives but for the big sin of taking God for granted. May our asceticism, our penance and our awareness during this season truly lead to the intense joy of Easter, the startling gift of God’s presence in our lives.Monastery of St. Gertrudehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16138020234255600443noreply@blogger.com0