The Call

I hope to become a "monk in the world", that is, a lay person, associated with a monastic community, not subject to the vows typically taken by a professed religious. I am hoping to become a Benedictine Oblate.

An oblate is a lay person affiliated with a monastic community who attempts to pattern his life on the Rule of St. Benedict. Oblates generally are expected to support their community with prayer, financial contributions (when and if possible), personal assistance in the form of volunteer labor, and visits at least once a year. They are also encouraged to participate in daily Mass, the Divine Office or opus dei, as Benedict called it, and do daily lectio (pronounced leksio), or Holy Reading. The person does this while still in his "day job."

To many, running off to a monastery might seem to be a form of escapism, an inability to deal with the daily demands of real life, a kind of wishful thinking on the part of someone who needs a "crutch" to get him through the day.

Obviously, I don’t believe that. It’s true, I can't live as a professed monk, but I can pattern my life on the basic elements of his Rule. It is a tribute to the genius of St. Benedict that this is possible for any Christian, professed religious or secular. This is so, because for Benedict, the essential thing was simply seeking God. Esther de Waal explains:

"How is it possible that this same Rule can also speak to men and women who are trying to follow Christ without undertaking the commitment to community? Perhaps one of the stories which St Gregory tells about St. Benedict may hint at the answer. It comes not from the Life but from the third book of the Dialogues. A certain hermit named Martin had chained himself to the side of his solitary cave near Monte Cassino. When he heard of it, St. Benedict sent him this message: 'If you are indeed a servant of God, do not chain yourself with chains of iron. But rather, let Christ be the chain that binds you.' St Benedict points to Christ. It is as simple as that. Christ is the beginning, the way and the end. The Rule continually points beyond itself to Christ himself, and in this it has allowed, and will continue to allow, men and women in every age to find in what it says depths and levels relevant to their needs and their understanding at any stage on their journey, provided that they are truly seeking God."

All Christians share the call to follow Christ, regardless of their state in life. For any Christian this has to be done day in and day out, at work or at play, in the office, writing a blog post, or on the ski slopes. It's true for anyone, monk or garbage collector. It's the genius of Benedict, that he recognized this truth and wrote his Rule to address human reality--and frailty, while still pointing the way to Christ. So, in the Rule, one finds guidance on issues of leadership and authority, prayer, business management and accounting, the care and handling of tools, cooking meals and doing dishes, the schedule of the liturgy, sleeping arrangements, and many other topics. Many of the topics addressed in the Rule are not usually associated with the spiritual life of the monk, but they are familiar elements of daily life.

Benedict realized that everything we do, no matter how mundane, provides a way to find God, if only we are alive enough to see the possibilities. God doesn't speak to us in great thundering revelations, but in "a still, small voice," Benedict cries, "Listen!" Thus, the ancient formula that sums up the life of the monk: read, pray, work; in these God is found.

It is this emphasis on seeking God daily, in the ordinary things, that I find so attractive, and I hope that attraction with be evident as I continue to write here, trying to share the story of my experience answering the call.

Why?

Why, that is, should anyone think of starting a new blog now? Surely the last thing the world needs is a new blog to clutter the internet with?

True, and as to the first question, I can't say I have a good answer. Perhaps I'm doing this just because I can. Perhaps there's a bit of exhibitionist in me just waiting to get loose. Or perhaps I think I have something to say. These answers go from the ridiculous to the more ridiculous.

I think a better answer is that I am truly interested in monasticism, Benedictine spirituality, and the wisdom of the desert fathers and have been moved by them, even to coming home to Rome after a life time as a Scot's Presbyterian Calvinist of the first water. I'd like to try to share the beauty of a movement that is nearly as old as the Church, even though I make no claim to any special holiness or even goodness and certainly make no claim to any deep scholarly insight into these topics.

No, this will just be an attempt to create and maintain a "web log" of thoughts and ideas as I try to work my way deeper into what it means to be, at heart, a monk who is not living in a monastery but in the world. As such, I won't try to limit myself to a narrow range of topics but will go after whatever catches my interest, always trying to do so following in the spirit of The Rule of St. Benedict. I hope you may find this amusing.