Hey Jack! You sound rooted and calm. Thanks for this update. The verses you quote from Matthew are beatiful. I've been taught that accepting God as our only shelter, protector and maintainer is a key aspect of surrender, which is the doorway to devotion. So it sounds like you are crossing those pearly gates, remember to say a prayer for those of us who are struggling down here!
Any chance you might share a recording of your chanting?
Nanda- My stay here is off to a very good start, I think. It is a joy to be able to chant with others every day; to have time for silent prayer; to engage in meaningful tasks and projects; to be in a community of purpose, etc. These are all things that tend to be missing in so many lives. It certainly has been in my own for a long time.
I could spend my whole time here meditating only on Mt. 6:24-34 and surrounding verses. A lifetime of practice and prayer to live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. I am nothing but a beginner. Please pray for me!
There might be a time in the future to record the chants done here. For the time being I am still finding my place.
I love the little coincidences that seem to happen when you're absorbed in a paticular passage of scripture or when you're waiting for some divine guidance. Hope you figure it out Jack. In the meantime I'm very grateful for your posts. Always been fascinated by the Great Silence, so this is a real pleasure to read.
Liam- What I find interesting, and rather difficult for me, is that the Divine guidance given in the Mt. 6:24-34 is to entirety let go of worrying about the future. To seek first the kingdom of God, for the rest will be added. This is not at all what the world tells us. It is radical. I am very far from that. It is what I hope this time will begin to better teach me.
Have you seen the documentary Into Great Silence? It is long and slow, but absolutely beautiful. -Jack
I think you've taken a pretty radical step to understand what it means to live that passage Jack. I imagine it comes as a blessed relief to not have to worry about what to cook and what to wear and to settle into the beautiful rhythm of each day.
I work on a ship and it's the closest I've come to living a monastic lifestyle, but the chat here is a bit bluer than you're likely experiencing and there's definitely no chanting (although I'm inspired to give it a go). Because I'm fed and clothed I definitely feel it frees my mind to think and pray a lot deeper than when I'm in the real world. I really love Lectio Divina too and I've made my cabin into a cell on occassion, trying to make it as ascetic as possible, as though I'm in training for the real thing. Giving up your freedom to choose your daily sustenance and to do so voluntarily is a pretty radical form of letting go I think. I'm genuinely intrigued about how you get on with it.
I had the pleasure of watching Into Great Silence at the cinema and I loved it. Been swimming around my head for ages. I love a good monk film. Did you get to watch Athos before you went up to the monastery? Suppose it doesn't matter now you're doing the real thing!
Liam- I am still discerning to become a monk. Just for the record. I am here for an extended stay, probably 6 months to a year. By then a I should have a good idea what God wants me to do.
I like that you turn your cabin into a cell. I did my best for years to turn my last small apartment into a mini-monastery. The real thing is different, but not so different!
Working in the world and scrambling to take care of things does make it more difficult to pray. I am thankful for this time whatever the further implications might be,
I did see Athos. I found it beautiful and intriguing.
Today I am learning to use a Gregorian Chant notation program (really, it is a font you can use in Word. It works great.). The virtual scriptorium! I wish I had the calligraphy skills to actually write it out. But the virtual way won't cramp my hand, I guess. -Jack
Hi! I came over here because Paul Kingsnorth recommends your substack - I just wanted to thank you for the passage from Matthew you quote; its beauty took my breath away.
My plan is to meditate on Mt. 6:24-34 and surrounding verses until it better sinks in. I am not sure I have ever understood rightly. I am sure, actually, I haven’t understood. Dare I say that there is an urgent message we need to learn now, as ever. -Jack
Hi Jack, Reading this gave me a peaceful feeling. It is a peaceful time of day here where I am with the traffic on the road dying down and the mourning doves singing a little. I would love to have someone make chanting "more accessible" for me. When I attend a local Episcopal church is the only time I encounter it and it feels so strange to me. -Clara
Clara- I am going to be so bold to say that plainchant is our birthright.I hope to deepen my understanding of chant during my time at the monastery. I think there are ways that most people could participate in chant. It is music that transcends music. The Divine Office is sometimes called the sung Bible. All this talk of re-enchanting the world and the practice of doing so is hiding in plain sight. It is worth remedying that. It is a profound way to pray and be in the world
“I have taken enough of those virtual bullets to the solar plexus to last me a lifetime.”
Well-said, Jack. And at least we grew up in a less virtual age, and so the bullets and the wounds are clearer for what they are. For those who grew up in the virtual age (Gen Z), it might be harder to see and feel.
Peter- I can't remember who it was, but the thesis was that Gen x was the last generation to really have lived in the before times and it was up to us to save the world. Bad news, if true.
Up until the digital age most technology wasn't all that different from decades past. I could visit my grandparents in rural PA whose lives hardly revolved around TV or technology. It was like going back in time. It wasn't so foreign either.
I time the change to around 1980. That was around the time that we moved from analog to digital. Drum machines are one way to represent the change. First they were entirely robotic, now drum programs can do a fairly realistic job at mimicking a drummer. This relates to your current post. 1980 was also the year that No Country for Old Men was set. I don't take that as a coincidence. -Jack
Hey Jack, I am also reading the Tao / Christ book as Paul sent it to me for my birthday this year. I am just a short way in, from the Taoist end, so to speak, but it will be great to discuss it with you. I shall crack on...
For what it's worth I studied Aikido and Tai Chi a while. I let go of the Tai Chi to focus more on the Aikido. I wish I had kept up the Tai Chi--not nearly as rough on the body.
if I had had 4 bodies, I would like to have done Aikido, Yang Style Tai chi, Chen Style T'ai chi, and Ba Gua. However, just the one was plenty in the end.
Caroline- This is excellent. I have been reading it Lectio Divina style for my morning prayer. There is much to think on in it! I look forward to hearing your thoughts. -Jack
Thanks for your update Jack. It is interesting that you are waking at 2am. In TCM this is when your liver is at its most active detoxifying the body. It must be under some stress. Perhaps indicative that your body is physically letting go and getting rid of things that are toxic to you. If you can get your hands on some milk thistle it may help....though I think chanting is a pretty good method too.
Naomi- I will pick some milk thistle next time I am in the world. I imagine I have some serious detoxing to do. On many different levels. Thank you. I will let you know how it goes. I hope you are well. -Jack
Thank you Jack. As I get older I'm coming to realise that the sacred exists in everything; even in the complexity of every cell in our bodies. I'm finding it harder and harder to separate spirituality and 'matter'. Perhaps whatever we do, be it spiritual or physical impacts 'us' and the world that supports us? I'd like to believe it's so.
I hope you continue to enjoy the journey you're on. I look forward to hearing more about it.
Naomi- When I was younger I saw "spirituality" as a kind of rocket out of the suffering of life, or as a kind of self-help to achieve my own personal goals. I am now far more inclined to what you are expressing. The cultivation and opening up to the Original Harmony of all things in God. This very much includes the physical world. -Jack
Hey Jack! You sound rooted and calm. Thanks for this update. The verses you quote from Matthew are beatiful. I've been taught that accepting God as our only shelter, protector and maintainer is a key aspect of surrender, which is the doorway to devotion. So it sounds like you are crossing those pearly gates, remember to say a prayer for those of us who are struggling down here!
Any chance you might share a recording of your chanting?
Nanda- My stay here is off to a very good start, I think. It is a joy to be able to chant with others every day; to have time for silent prayer; to engage in meaningful tasks and projects; to be in a community of purpose, etc. These are all things that tend to be missing in so many lives. It certainly has been in my own for a long time.
I could spend my whole time here meditating only on Mt. 6:24-34 and surrounding verses. A lifetime of practice and prayer to live like the birds of the air and the lilies of the field. I am nothing but a beginner. Please pray for me!
There might be a time in the future to record the chants done here. For the time being I am still finding my place.
I hope you are doing well in your travels. -Jack
I love the little coincidences that seem to happen when you're absorbed in a paticular passage of scripture or when you're waiting for some divine guidance. Hope you figure it out Jack. In the meantime I'm very grateful for your posts. Always been fascinated by the Great Silence, so this is a real pleasure to read.
Liam- What I find interesting, and rather difficult for me, is that the Divine guidance given in the Mt. 6:24-34 is to entirety let go of worrying about the future. To seek first the kingdom of God, for the rest will be added. This is not at all what the world tells us. It is radical. I am very far from that. It is what I hope this time will begin to better teach me.
Have you seen the documentary Into Great Silence? It is long and slow, but absolutely beautiful. -Jack
I think you've taken a pretty radical step to understand what it means to live that passage Jack. I imagine it comes as a blessed relief to not have to worry about what to cook and what to wear and to settle into the beautiful rhythm of each day.
I work on a ship and it's the closest I've come to living a monastic lifestyle, but the chat here is a bit bluer than you're likely experiencing and there's definitely no chanting (although I'm inspired to give it a go). Because I'm fed and clothed I definitely feel it frees my mind to think and pray a lot deeper than when I'm in the real world. I really love Lectio Divina too and I've made my cabin into a cell on occassion, trying to make it as ascetic as possible, as though I'm in training for the real thing. Giving up your freedom to choose your daily sustenance and to do so voluntarily is a pretty radical form of letting go I think. I'm genuinely intrigued about how you get on with it.
I had the pleasure of watching Into Great Silence at the cinema and I loved it. Been swimming around my head for ages. I love a good monk film. Did you get to watch Athos before you went up to the monastery? Suppose it doesn't matter now you're doing the real thing!
Liam- I am still discerning to become a monk. Just for the record. I am here for an extended stay, probably 6 months to a year. By then a I should have a good idea what God wants me to do.
I like that you turn your cabin into a cell. I did my best for years to turn my last small apartment into a mini-monastery. The real thing is different, but not so different!
Working in the world and scrambling to take care of things does make it more difficult to pray. I am thankful for this time whatever the further implications might be,
I did see Athos. I found it beautiful and intriguing.
Today I am learning to use a Gregorian Chant notation program (really, it is a font you can use in Word. It works great.). The virtual scriptorium! I wish I had the calligraphy skills to actually write it out. But the virtual way won't cramp my hand, I guess. -Jack
Hi! I came over here because Paul Kingsnorth recommends your substack - I just wanted to thank you for the passage from Matthew you quote; its beauty took my breath away.
All the best to you up so close to the sky!
Thank you for stopping by! Glad to have you here.
My plan is to meditate on Mt. 6:24-34 and surrounding verses until it better sinks in. I am not sure I have ever understood rightly. I am sure, actually, I haven’t understood. Dare I say that there is an urgent message we need to learn now, as ever. -Jack
Hi Jack, Reading this gave me a peaceful feeling. It is a peaceful time of day here where I am with the traffic on the road dying down and the mourning doves singing a little. I would love to have someone make chanting "more accessible" for me. When I attend a local Episcopal church is the only time I encounter it and it feels so strange to me. -Clara
Clara- I am going to be so bold to say that plainchant is our birthright.I hope to deepen my understanding of chant during my time at the monastery. I think there are ways that most people could participate in chant. It is music that transcends music. The Divine Office is sometimes called the sung Bible. All this talk of re-enchanting the world and the practice of doing so is hiding in plain sight. It is worth remedying that. It is a profound way to pray and be in the world
How are you?
-Jack
“I have taken enough of those virtual bullets to the solar plexus to last me a lifetime.”
Well-said, Jack. And at least we grew up in a less virtual age, and so the bullets and the wounds are clearer for what they are. For those who grew up in the virtual age (Gen Z), it might be harder to see and feel.
Peter- I can't remember who it was, but the thesis was that Gen x was the last generation to really have lived in the before times and it was up to us to save the world. Bad news, if true.
Up until the digital age most technology wasn't all that different from decades past. I could visit my grandparents in rural PA whose lives hardly revolved around TV or technology. It was like going back in time. It wasn't so foreign either.
I time the change to around 1980. That was around the time that we moved from analog to digital. Drum machines are one way to represent the change. First they were entirely robotic, now drum programs can do a fairly realistic job at mimicking a drummer. This relates to your current post. 1980 was also the year that No Country for Old Men was set. I don't take that as a coincidence. -Jack
Hey Jack, I am also reading the Tao / Christ book as Paul sent it to me for my birthday this year. I am just a short way in, from the Taoist end, so to speak, but it will be great to discuss it with you. I shall crack on...
For what it's worth I studied Aikido and Tai Chi a while. I let go of the Tai Chi to focus more on the Aikido. I wish I had kept up the Tai Chi--not nearly as rough on the body.
if I had had 4 bodies, I would like to have done Aikido, Yang Style Tai chi, Chen Style T'ai chi, and Ba Gua. However, just the one was plenty in the end.
Caroline- This is excellent. I have been reading it Lectio Divina style for my morning prayer. There is much to think on in it! I look forward to hearing your thoughts. -Jack
Thanks for your update Jack. It is interesting that you are waking at 2am. In TCM this is when your liver is at its most active detoxifying the body. It must be under some stress. Perhaps indicative that your body is physically letting go and getting rid of things that are toxic to you. If you can get your hands on some milk thistle it may help....though I think chanting is a pretty good method too.
Naomi- I will pick some milk thistle next time I am in the world. I imagine I have some serious detoxing to do. On many different levels. Thank you. I will let you know how it goes. I hope you are well. -Jack
Thank you Jack. As I get older I'm coming to realise that the sacred exists in everything; even in the complexity of every cell in our bodies. I'm finding it harder and harder to separate spirituality and 'matter'. Perhaps whatever we do, be it spiritual or physical impacts 'us' and the world that supports us? I'd like to believe it's so.
I hope you continue to enjoy the journey you're on. I look forward to hearing more about it.
Naomi- When I was younger I saw "spirituality" as a kind of rocket out of the suffering of life, or as a kind of self-help to achieve my own personal goals. I am now far more inclined to what you are expressing. The cultivation and opening up to the Original Harmony of all things in God. This very much includes the physical world. -Jack