In the Roman Catholic Church a person interested in the religious life has a multitude choices. There are the Benedictines, Carthusians, Carmelites, Franciscans, and many many others. What really are these orders? Certainly the monastic life has a certain flair to it, a certain romantic quality. However, I'm not sure you can find a monastery without air conditioning and without a degree of luxury -- especially if you have ever lived in urban poverty. It is no longer simply about taking up a habit and following a rule. Its about going through an application process, being screened, taking aptitude tests, and asking tough vocational questions. Necessary in these days and time? Perhaps.
It has gotten me to think. Having lived in a monastery I often think about the experience, and I do value those memories. It has gotten me to think about the nature of religious life. Not so much the monastic life, but the mendicant orders. Could someone like a St. Francis flourish in todays world? Would it be possible to put on "common clothes," beg for food, and preach the gospel. I imagine you would get harassed by the police and required to get a han-handling license. You can go to some countries and the practice of ascetic "holy men" is still present -- mainly, it seems, in the Eastern world where Buddhist and Hindu ascetics life. What about in the "Christian world?" I don't consider any institution in the Roman Catholic Church as truly practices holy poverty.
If I were to walk away from all that I own, except the clothes on my back, and start to wander preaching the gospel (although the gospel I would probably preach is called Philip) I would undoubtedly be labeled insane or a freak. Its food for thought.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
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4 comments:
My Friend, I think its true that our consumeristic society has become so homogenized by media that there is little room for the ascetic. However, the quiet life of the seeker requires only intent and the ability to serve others.
David,
I would be delighted to swap stories of monastic life with you, although my experience was not Christian. I lived as a brahmachari, a celibate student of the Hare Krishnas for nearly three years. Much of that time was in an ashram of men living a very ascetic lifestyle. Although the faiths were different, we might find a lot in common.
I also wanted to suggest that you familiarize yourself with the story of Shane Clairborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution: Living as an Ordinary Radical. Although I'm only marginally familiar with it myself (having only read the cover of the book) it sounds like he offers much to this conversation.
David
A recent issue of Christian Research Journal, an evangelical magazine, had an article on the "new monastics" and featured what would have been called a "commune" in the 1960s, that was primarily young people dedicated to service to the poor and evangelical Christianity. I find it interesting tht Protestants who have generally avoided monasticism are experimenting with it. David's comment on Hindu monastic communities is also important. Buddhist monastic communities thrive as well. So I think monasticism is a viable option in our world. I live more like an anchorite (hermit) than a cenobite (monastic community) and value much about that lifestyle.
+ Chiron (Paul Larson)
Heck, all you have to do is claim to have undergone a profound revelatory experience of God to be proclaimed as insane and something of a freak by U*Us. . .
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