So, what's your take on how Merton sees monastic life changing?  Was he right?

I wanted to experiment with how Posterous handles photos.  I just grabbed a few from my Flickr page that I took at St. Meinrad a couple of years ago while on retreat.  You can view the rest of the set here.

Tomorrow is the feast day of Saint Benedict.  It's an important day in the church year for all of us who associate ourselves with the Benedictine way.  It's a large family comprised of clergy and laity, religious and lay orders, in the United States and all across the world.  Although Saint Benedict lived from 480 to 547 AD, his Rule has been used down through the centuries and is still used today by Benedictines.  Many books have been written on the Rule of Saint Benedict.  In many ways, his rule seems to be more popular than ever.  What is it that draws people to Saint Benedict and his Rule of life?  I'm always interested in hearing other people's stories . . .

For now, I'll throw out some thoughts; feel free to add your own.

1.  The Benedictine Way is Christ-centered.
As I've said before, following the Rule of St. Benedict is on way to live out one's Christian faith.  It's not the only way but it is one way of working out our salvation.  He begins and ends his Rule with Christ.

This message of mine is for you, then, if you are ready to give up your own will, once and for all, and armed with the strong and noble weapons of obedience to do battle for the true King, Christ the Lord. (1:3). (Fry, 1981)

On the last page, Benedict closes with these words:

Are you hastening toward your heavenly home?  Then with Christ's help, keep this little rule that we have written for beginners.  After that, you can set out for the loftier summits of the teaching and virtues we mentioned above, and under God's protection you will reach them.   (Fry, 1981) 

2.  The Benedictine Way is Balanced.
One thing that can be safely said of the culture we live in today:  it lacks balance.  We live in a noisy, chaotic, busy, and often times angry world.  Benedict's Rule brings balance.  For example, a monk prays and works.  He works and rests.  He eats but not too much.  He sleeps but not to excess.  He is to spend time alone but also in community with others.  Again and again, the idea of living a balanced, ordered life is written about all through the Rule.

3.  The Benedictine Way is Ancient.
There is something to be said for the longevity of the Rule.  Not many things written 1500 years ago are being talked about, written about and even celebrated by the church today.  Yet, the Rule of Saint Benedict remains.  The church has regarded it as a good way to live.  It's simply stood the test of time.  I also like that the Rule comes before the division of the Church into the East and the West.  As Esther de Waal puts it, "It predates those unhappy divisions which occurred at the Reformation, and instead speaks of what is common, universal, foundational to all Christians.  So today in America Protestants and Lutherans, Episcopalians and Catholics, all find themselves at home in this Benedictine spirituality." (de Waal, 1984)

I could write much more about the way of Benedict but I've said enough.  It's your turn.  How has the Holy Spirit used the Rule in your life?

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de Waal, E. (1984).  Seeking God:  the way of St. Benedict.  Collegville, MN:  Liturgical Press.

Fry, T. (1981).  The rule of St. Benedict.  Collegeville, MN:  Liturgical Press.

Saint Benedict in his Rule makes it quite clear that the whole aim of the Benedictine life is to form Christ in us, to enable the Spirit of Christ to carry out, in our lives, actions worthy of Christ.  (Thomas Merton, The Monastic Journey)

If you read my blog very often, you know that I enjoy reading Thomas Merton's writings.  Once in a while, I like to grab one of his journals and read what he was thinking about and writing about around this time of year.  Here's an entry from 1963.

January 25, 1963

Still very cold and bright.

The best thing about the retreat has been working in the pig barn and then walking back alone, a mile and a half, through the snow.

I think I have come to see more clearly and more seriously the meaning, or lack of meaning, in my life.  How much I am still the same self-willed and volatile person who made such a mess of Cambridge.  That I have not changed yet, down in the depths, or perhaps, yes, I have changed radically somewhere, yet I have still kept some of the old, vain, inconstant, self-centered ways of looking at things.  The situation I am in now has been given me to change me, if I will only surrender completely to reality as it is given me by God and no longer seek in any way to evade it, even by interior reservations.

Hitherto my interior reservation has been always "Of course there must be something better, and who knows if that is not for me?"

Well, there is something better:  but it must come out of an inner transformation of my own self, in Christ.  What is better is Christ, that is to say, for me to live completely in and by Him.  I already do live in Him, of course, but there remains much to be surrendered that still remains "my own."

I'm always intrigued by how much "normal" stuff Merton writes about.  The weather.  His own internal struggles and failings.  His frustration with himself and others, etc.  Perhaps that's why I resonate with his writing as much as I do. 

I spent this weekend at the Abbey of Gethsemani for a regional gathering of Lay Cistercian communities.  It was an interesting experience to meet representatives of various Lay Cistercian groups from all over the US.  There are a few things I've taken away from this weekend. 

• I've learned that I am not alone.  It's helpful to meet other people who have some of the same desires as me.  They too sense a calling from the Holy Spirit to be lay monastics whose primary calling is to prayer and contemplation for the good of the world.  I'm glad to know that I'm not crazy; that others living in different states and even different countries long to live this life of prayer "in the world."
• I've learned that a lot of diversity exists among these groups.  I was a bit surprised to learn how different the various expressions of Lay Cistercian groups were.  Some are highly structured.  Some hardly have any structure at all.  Some are geographically based.  Others like Conversi have members from all over the world.  Some groups require each member to be Roman Catholic while other groups are ecumenical. 
• I've learned that many of us Lay Cistercians have great affection for our local monasteries.  We care about these Trappists and must be careful not to place unreasonable expectations on them. 
• I've learned that I have a lot to learn.  I have a lot yet to learn about prayer, about lectio, about Cistercian tradition, about what it means to live this vocation in the world. 

I should probably clarify that I wasn't invited to Gethsemani as representative of our local Cistercian community.  I was there as a "host" to assist others in making their way around the monastery and to take a few photos of the weekend.  I was privileged to be able to sit in on these group sessions and found them both inspiring and informative.

You can see the photos of the weekend on my flickr page.

Peace.

Let all guests that come be received like Christ. (Rule of St. Benedict)

Monks know about hospitality. They live it day in and day out. They are hospitable when it's not convenient. They practice hospitality with their brothers in the community and with those "seculars" who come for retreat or seek counsel. I'm learning that I have a lot to learn about that kind of hospitality. The kind of hospitality that allows people "in" our life. In Benedict's time, travelers often needed a place to stay for the night. After all, there weren't any Hilton Hotels around in that day. I'd imagine it was a common thing to feed and care for people as they traveled. Hospitality would have been "normal." I wonder why it's not a "normal" part of our lives today? (Or perhaps I'm alone in this?) To be honest, it's difficult, time-consuming, expensive and inconvenient to practice hospitality. Yet, it's part of being whole. I'm not sure we can be healthy and whole without it.

Hospitality is the overflowing of a heart that has to share what it has received. It takes a whole person to open up, it takes a secure person to be available, it takes a strong person to give yourself away. (p. 20, Radical Hospitality)

Hospitality is about me learning to open my heart. Again, a quote from Radical Hospitality:

Here is the core of hospitality: May I know you better? Will you come closer, please? No, it will not be easy, but make no mistake about it, your life depends on this saving stranger coming to you and stretching your tight little heart. (p. 36)

Maybe this is the time of my life to learn this lesson. Let's hope so.

Peace.

Of all the authors I've ever read, no one speaks to me in the same way Thomas Merton does. I can't explain it. Somehow, Merton and I have a deep connection through shared struggles and shared longings.

There's a prayer that I first found at the Abbey of Gethsemani. It was sitting in a non-descript brochure holder on the front desk. I picked it up and began to read. I was immediately taken in by this prayer.

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

There are several sentences in that prayer I could have penned. I love the honesty of it. Even after nearly ten years of monastic life, ten years of prayer, and ten years of community, Merton did not have life figured out. He too questioned the future and what that may look like. In short, there was a lot Merton didn't understand about his own journey and was able to somehow trust God with his life and future. I love the last part of the prayer. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.

Amen.

Found a series of interesting videos from a young man who spent some time at the Parkminster Charterhouse which happens to be a Carthusian Monastery located in England . It doesn't look like he's feeling all that well. Check it out.