There are people who see monastic life as escaping, as running away from real life. Some people are uncomfortable with the idea of intentionally losing touch wth immediacy and practicality. They get a little itchy thinking about even a few hours without Internet access. Some people believe monastic life is choosing not to meet our responsibilities to contribute in the world.
The monks I know see monastic life differently. They recognize they take the world with them into the monastery.
Monastic life is not deciding to ignore the questions and issues the rest of us find absorbing. It is a commitment to being open to where those issues and questions can take us.
Rather than jumping to conclusions or proposing programs to solve complex problems, monks listen. Monastic life is based more in reflection than in analytical thinking. There is a recognition long-term issues need long-term responses. Surface questions reflect deeper, more significant qualities. What we need to do grows out of who we are.
Monastic life is an appreciation that there may be more to life than our immediate reactions.
Reflection, contemplation, and monastic life do not excuse us to do nothing. They allow us to pay the attention our questions deserve. They show us that the issues we find in the world around us reflect the issues within us. They give us opportunities to see we are the causes as well as the ways to respond.
Monastic life is a way to engage the real world more deeply, rather than being distracted in each moment.
We listen, and how we can act whispers itself to us.
When will we engage the life around us, and within us, today?
How do we see the ways we contribute to the problems we can also help solve?
[Image by Darren Flinders]
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