Inspiration often comes from outside of ourselves. Recently, reading another blog (Called Monks and Mermaids) I came across an interesting article that examines the Orthodox Church and the lessons it can teach us. In part, the article said:
Orthodoxy
is a monastic Church, a Church with a monastic heart where the
monasteries provide the spiritual fathers and mothers...A
Church without a flourishing monasticism, without the lived 'martyrdom'
of an asceticism inspired by the Paschal Mystery of the Lord's Cross and
Resurrection, could hardly be a Church according to the mind of the
Christ of the Gospels, for monasticism, of all Christian life ways, is
the one which most clearly and publicly leaves all things behind for the
sake of the Kingdom...
As I read this, I thought of my own past monastic experience, one where the
intense training I received brought me into a very different way of life, one so
different that re-integrating into life outside the monastery has never ceased to be
challenging. I thought of my constant struggle to identify with my fellow travelers along the way, my inability to communicate on deeper levels even with those of my own family, and how I have to constantly work to understand why certain things seem so important to those around me (such as name brands and name dropping and styles and all that stuff).
Monastic life does change a person. The question I have is, how does one change back? How far should one cling to the monastic persona, the monastic mindset, or the monastic heart?
For if I am really living out the challenge of Christ, I should be able to identify with all the people of God, and able to understand concerns and issues not my own. At least, that is my hope.
No comments:
Post a Comment