Good news everyone! We’ve found Br. Monday. But here’s the thing: he’s found a new community and isn’t coming back to the desert with the abbas. You see, while we were looking for him, he came across a new kind of monastic community, the Abbey of Theleme. Some say it was built by the giant … More The Rule of the Thelemites
How can deconstruction relate to the Desert Fathers? Jacques Derrida’s method of deconstruction is in some ways a critique of religious thought. It exposes assumptions that we rely on in Western culture, such as an overlying concept of intelligibility and reason, that we call the logos, that transcends and anchors all meaning. Early monasticism is … More Deconstructing the Desert
I’m sorry to say, but Br. Monday was quite hurt by my words last week. He hasn’t spoken to me since and has been gallivanting around the countryside rather than following his monastic schedule (not that he actually followed it before, but he always made a splendid show of pretending to follow it). I discovered he had … More Where is Br. Monday?
We learned about a new mission statement last time on Monastic Mondays, but some of you may be wondering perhaps what Br. Monday’s rejected statement was. Fortunately, I found it crumpled up in the corner of the chapter room after he sulked away. Here it is: “To seek myself and share nothing anywhere.” In case … More The Worst Kind of Monk
Br. Monday has been through a lot since we first met him. That original wide-eyed innocence has been replaced by wide-eyed horror. But we’re all about healing and hope here, so we aren’t giving up on Br. Monday. Here’s a recounting of his healing process from his retreat to the new mission statement. 1. Design Br. … More The Healing of Br. Monday
I’ve been thinking a lot about the importance of place lately. Partially, this is because I feel like an exile in the South. Things are different in Cascadia. We have Fred Meyer instead of Kroger’s. Our summers are properly dry. And we understand the importance of storm drains. But understanding the importance of space is … More On This Holy Mountain
A brother once went out on a pilgrimage from the monastery of Abba Poemen, and came to a hermit, who lived in love towards all and received many visitors. The brother told the hermit stories of Abba Poemen. And when he heard of Poemen’s strength of character, he longed to see him. The brother returned … More Talking Points with an Abba
This was originally posted on June 22nd, but I thought it worked especially well for Labor Day. The dignity of work has an important place in monastic tradition, down to the Benedictine motto: Ora et Labora. Br. Monday really did choose a lifestyle that he wasn’t quite cut out for… A brother came to Abba … More Br. Monday Wishes You a Happy Labor Day
It’s time for the last of the conferences. Br. Monday is already packed to return to the Abba’s. Let’s listen to the last thing the retreat master has to say… It is a false impression, that easy sense we have that we know or can quickly know about other parts of the world, other cultures, … More False Impression
Br. Monday is barely awake, but he’s made it to this mornings retreat conference… In An Interrupted Life by Etty Hillesum, she is speaking about a man she admires and says, “I think most of us get the wrong idea when we hear the phrase lady’s man–we immediately think of sex. He is a lady’s man, true … More Lady’s Man
The Golden Echo 