What is so important about reflecting? What good does it really do us to be reflective? Isn’t reflection boring? We are accustomed to being instantly analytical. Given a problem, we figure out an answer. We may be comfortable being emotional. Situations or relationships bring our strong feelings to the surface immediately. Why do we need to reflect? Reflection allows […]
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Some people are convinced spiritual life is supposed to be reassuring. They believe spiritual life sustains them in times of trouble or doubt. When they face challenges, they rely on spiritual life to see them through. I understand spiritual life as more than helping us feel better in difficult times. One explanation is that spiritual life comforts
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We drive ourselves to move forward. Our economy, our culture are based in growing, making progress, moving forward. We believe, especially now at the beginning of a year, in setting goals and making things happen. We push ourselves, working hard to transform what we want into reality. We are convinced our efforts earn us progress toward
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We value time. Some of us believe time is money. We do not want anyone to waste our time. It is almost as if we could hoard spare moments or days in boxes to use them later. Some of us are anxious about time management. We want to spend time as effectively as we can. They are
Morning is when we awaken. We open our eyes, remember who we are, and rise to greet the day. There are days when it takes us a little longer to wake up, and days when we remain asleep. If we choose to stay in bed with the blankets over our heads we risk missing the
Every step is a new beginning. Starting each new year, each new day, even getting out of bed each morning, we take a first step. We think things through, assess the risks, make a decision, and prepare to act. Sometimes we need to overcome fear or reluctance, or reassure ourselves we have chosen well. There are
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Many of us assume monks are people stuck in the past, resistant to new ideas. We see monks as people committed to upholding old ideas in traditional ways. We believe monasteries exist to continue doing things “the ways we have always done them.” The monks I know do not think or behave in the ways
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Each moment, each hour, each day, each week, each month, each year, we begin again. We do not start over because we want everything to be perfect. We do not continue beginning again to demonstrate our stubbornness, our determination. It is not as if we are refusing to stop, refusing to quit. We do not
Monasteries tend to be quiet places. Some monasteries are quiet because people go there to be silent. Not talking, being quiet, is part of the experience, part of the attraction, of being there. People visit monastic communities to drink from their deep pools of Sacred refreshment. Some visitors sit in libraries, reading or writing. Other
We grasp tightly onto the knot at the end of our rope, almost at the end of our hope. Our hands, our fingers, are stiff and sore. Our arms shake from holding on so tightly for so long. Every fiber of who we believe we are is focused on not letting go. We wait, seemingly beyond hope, in
