I am in a tough spot right now – not sleeping well, stressing over finding a job, not wanting to do any school work, yadda, yadda, yadda. There is so much going on and the pace is only quickening. With only a few weeks of classes left, end of year stuff is being scheduled right and left, especially for us seniors. (Is it “us” or “we”?)
I’m ready to be out. I’m not ready to leave this “monastic” feel, ethos, what word should go here? The whole idea of a post-modern monastic experience continues to have such a draw for me. This place, this seminary, this Close, has such a feel. We live in intentional community, very close, on top of one another, in a fishbowl. We study together, we minister together, we worship together, say the Daily Offices together, eat together, argue and yell together – we are formed together – men, women, single, married, straight, gay, black, white, brown, younger and older. I am going to truly miss this and if there were a way to maintain it no matter where I am, I would be there. Of course it gets tiring at times, but that is all part of the experience.
Part of the whole saga is simply doing it, truly. Maybe there will be no interest in such a thing in the beginning. Maybe there will be great interest. This isn’t like Jesus People or Sojourners – intentional communities – but an honest monastic form of life, a true rule of life.
Honestly, I would love to be able to have a large building for community and ministry. We live and work and worship together. We have space for visitors for retreats or to just get away. It would be different from traditional monasteries in that we have a very mixed kind of community, yet similar in the pace and shape of life.