Everyday Monks

During Seminary I got use to getting up to study the languages - Greek and Hebrew - in the very early morning hours.  My typical time to wake up was around 3:00, 3:30 a.m.  Crazy right?  Well, it worked.  In the early morning (my daughter once said, it's not early morning Dad, it's the middle of the night!), I had complete quiet and so I could focus without the distractions that often occur in the daytime.

Monks arise early.  Most monastic orders follow the disciplines of Benedict established in the 6th century.  Seven times a day they would meet together for a short time of scripture reading, prayer, and at times to sing, or sit in silent meditation.
Psalm 119:164 (ESV)
¹⁶⁴  Seven times a day I praise you for your righteous rules.

Monastic orders came into being as the Roman empire's political and military power crumbled and the empire became overrun with Germanic tribes.  Christians had no love for Rome, but nevertheless, the empire had provided a place for the church to grow.
Those who chose to move away from the world into these places of community, did not do so to escape the world, but to create a place to practice Kingdom life regardless of the world around them.

That's the issue - really.
How do we live "in the world", but "not of the world"?

For many who call themselves Christian - who cares?  Why worry about living separately, differently?  We live in the world, just live as people of faith and do what everyone else does.  Makes sense...a lot of people do that.
What I discovered some 30+ years ago was a deep longing, a hunger for something that called me to a deeper life in seeing Christ hour by hour.
I was a Pastor of a small rural, but growing church.  I was overwhelmed with almost everything...but faking it really well.  People looked up to me and I played out my role in the best ways possible.
BUT
As I came to say later, "I was running on batteries".
I was doing everything I needed to do, but without the awareness of Christ with me.  I wanted that more than success - I wanted that deeper awareness of walking with Christ.

I discovered the Monastics.

The Monastic life that Benedict laid out isn't glamorous.  It is extraordinarily normal.  But it drew me to its simplicity and caused me to think about the bigger issue of just why was I here to begin with.  I'll write a bit about that tomorrow, but it's an important question and one we can't escape if we call ourselves Christians.

What is it that our Christianity is suppose to do for us?
Think about it.
We exercise to stay healthy, grow stronger.
We eat good foods, take vitamins in hopes of being healthy.
We study, read in order to grow intellectually.
Think about it, we love because we are loved in loving.

So, what does being a Christian suppose to do for me?
I'll pick this up tomorrow, but look at this passage from Paul to the Ephesians, in the "Message".

Ephesians 1:3-13 (MSG)
³  How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him.
⁴  Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.
⁵  Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)
⁶  He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
⁷  Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!
⁸  He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need,
⁹  letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ,
¹⁰  a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
¹¹  It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living,
¹²  part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
¹³  It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.

Peace