Tuesday, March 6, 2012

March 6 - Not Dreaming . . . Seeing!



Many are the monastics who would tell us that they consider themselves to be living almost selfishly rather than sacrificially, because the delights of the Abbey are so intense and so unique. That does not mean some of them are not hard-won, however.

Those who stay are most often those who know they will miss people and certain pleasures “in the world.” We think of them as dreamers and mystics, but in reality that what will turn an old barn or a burned out tenement into an Abbey is VISION and DETERMINATION. We speak of more than just envisioning the structure and setting out to renovate, but of the certainty that this is RIGHT for a certain band of men or women. These are those for whom the strength of worship and communion, the bonds of fellowship, the joys of obedience, the peace of prayer and meditation, and a vital relationship with the Word of God, far outweigh what they have left behind.

If this Abbess has anything to say worth hearing, it is this, that what they have is meant for the rest of us. Strength of worship and communion, bonds of fellowship, joys of obedience, the peace of prayer and meditation and work, and a vital relationship with the Word of God must belong to all, and if what they know can help us get where we are going, we will pay close attention.

They have made a career of devotion; too often we try to fit devotion into the cracks between great slabs of career, fun, leisure, distraction, duty, dissipation, and family. Clearly, if some of those stones were dislodged, we could find room and find time to spend with God.

We, as they, will progress as we gain and protect VISION. We are meant to be here! ONE THING have we desired of Him; that will we seek after. By faith and by His grace, in hope, will we dwell in His House all the days of our lives. Our devotion will invigorate our lives, and our lives will become a living devotion. Here we will behold His beauty continually, ever inquiring in His temple, at home forever within the cloistered walls of Cor Unum, the monastery of the heart.



"Corridors Enclosed"
Wikipedia, by permission

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