Why the Strategic Monk?

People ask quite a few questions about the name Strategic Monk.

Where did you get that name? What kind of a name is that? What does that mean? What was that name again?

Most of the questions are about the monk part. People want to know whether I am a real monk, and what my connection is to monks. A few people ask about the strategic part.

Strategic Monk is the story of my life.

I was raised to be a very strategic person, a person who finds the right answers and shares them with others. At school, at home, at church, I pursued the right answers. I went to school for a long time, including law school, and became a criminal prosecutor. I believed in the rightness of my answers.

I became the person who accomplished goals. I was focused on being strategic.

Eventually, I came to a point of dramatic transformation. I realized that I was asleep to myself, and that I neither knew nor considered what I wanted. I went through life doing what people expected me to do.

I began making changes. One of the most significant of those changes was discovering habits and practices that opened me to a more contemplative life.

I came to recognize a much deeper, more intimate connection to what was sacred and the holy in my everyday life.

Over time, I developed a relationship with a Benedictine monastery. I am a person who lives outside the monastery and who is committed to follow a way of life that supports monastic, contemplative values.

I continue to rely on the strengths and abilities that help me, and other people, get things done. I continue to develop the balance that helps me be more contemplative.

I am the Strategic Monk.

What is the overall story of your life?

[Image by Mike Cattell]