I was checking out the blogs yesterday and ran across Kevin’s post on monasticism. As many of you know there is something going on in many of us, a new vision of monastic life. What Kevin said (and is already trying to live by the way) reminded me of something I was talking about a while back here. This is not just about imitating the romantic ideas of the monks we’ve grown to love, presently and historically. It’s about a life, and the formation of people in a life, into the Image of Christ. Go take a look at the man’s encouraging post. Here’s a brief quote from what I said this Summer. Read the rest here. I think it’s an epidemic.
It seems Benedict was on a bit of a mission of reform, for people, not just clergy, it wasn’t particularly to create a religious order as an institution, it was just about, “ok, wow, let’s go over here and be Christians in a way that we can – actually BE Christians.” Anyway, he didn’t throw out the whole tub full of babies to do it, and what he did, or started, still reverberates throughout the Christian world today.
I truly believe there are some of us who have been inhabited by a terrible yearning for this context – where we can truly BE Christian and help others to be so as well – where Love can grow and change us.