April 14 - The Discipline of Sequence

We are about to discover the worship and devotion of another “cloister,” dear ones. In a few days from now, we will be entering an opulence, a beauty, a sanctuary real and functional and historically fascinating wherein lives one hermetical “Sister,” if she might be so kind as to forgive the liberty we will take. Truly, she is one of us, if Cor Unum is the monastery of our hearts.

As we have journeyed together through the virtual Abbey of our souls, taking concrete abbeys as our model, we have seen that those who are enclosed in them have made the difficult choice which was the easiest possible way for them to gain what they wanted above all else. They wanted to worship from the rising of the sun to the going down of the same, and they wanted to see if they could live so close to the Lord they loved, that there would not remain any separation in adoration or obedience. They stepped into conventual training academies to see if by perseverance, and with expert help, they might become spiritual Levites, giving glory to God and praying diligently for those He loves.

For us, our monastic day starts in front of the brew station or sometimes the dishes that accumulated after the last dishes were washed and put away, we open our Bibles, we worship and pray, and we put in a load of laundry, walk the dog, often the children’s dog!, get little ones up and ready for school, help find a lost cell phone or car keys, get to work on time, spend the fruitful part of the day being fruitful on behalf of others, come home and start dinner, put in another load of laundry and fold both big piles of clothes, and we must not sit down to relax until the dishes are done and the checkbook balanced. We make time to return to worship and prayer, without neglecting those who need us and want us at home.

We have seen before and we are reminded: we have a regime, as surely as do the nuns in any house, anywhere. Ours suffer more interruptions, and we are more free to violate our own best interests, our own schedules and best plans to get the most done and leave the most time for leisure and family fun and romantic interludes. Now, we are about to visit an enclosure where one woman accomplishes more in a day that many of us do in a week or more. First, for the sake of our devotion, another short review, and then, the majesty of discipline!