Comments on: ★ Why is New Monasticism on the Rise?

By: Pat

Pat — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 15:06:59 +0000

Hi IRS – Do you have thoughts on what the differences between empire and superpower are? Your perspective on that may be enlightening.

By: IRS

IRS — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:57:29 +0000

The people who are concerned with, worried about, and see an empire are the ones who have the most tenuous hold on reality; they substitute their fears for reality, they read all events as confirming their insane hypothesis, and they take their leftist maul and swing it around to attack every issue with the same blunt, dead, boring, and mindless force.

When you crawl out of your political foxhole and see reality — instead of fevered Marxist dreams — then you'll have something to say. Not until then.

By: Pat

Pat — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 11:39:01 +0000

Hi John – thanks for your comment! It's good to see that as monastic life is being made more accessible to folks that we're able to connect with it. There was a pretty popular BBC series not long ago that did something similar.

Blessings on your journey!

By: John

John — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 21:15:41 +0000

My wife and I are oblates at a Catholic Benedictine monastery because the Christ in the Desert monastery decided to allow TV cameras to film the time 5 men stayed at the monastery in 2006.

Christ in the Desert monastery is located in New Mexico about 1,700 miles from our home, but it was Christ in the Desert’s willingness to allow the modern media to film its activities that caused my wife and I to do something we had not done before — drive the 40 miles to the monastery near our home and see what it was like.

Our visit to the monastery that we had known about for 25 years was like getting a call from God.

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:09:53 +0000

Thanks for the comment,Tess. I wonder if what we're seeing too is a response to the American approval of spirituality in general, and honoritng those who are trying to live out a practical one as long as the people doing so don't hurt others. I also think that the Buddhist monastic perception is helpful here – what's the well known bromide, "when I see a Buddhist monk I see a spiritual person, and when I see a Christian pastor I see a business executive".

By: Pat

Pat — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 15:05:06 +0000

I agree, Eliacin. Empire is evil (and I *do* think we're in the midst of a powerful one, unlike Tony Jones and others).

I am also concerned about celebrity in Christianity in general, but especially in the new monastic movement. I read a recent blog post from a youth minister whose kids were very excited to get Shane Claiborne's autograph and to go to the same restaurant David Crowder was eating lunch at to get a glimpse. Their reponses gave him pause, which I think is good.

Then again, the cult of celebrity is a big part of our empire, so these things are intermixed.

By: Tess

Tess — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:53:15 +0000

I think you're right, something is happening. I know that monasticism is a Christian (and Buddhist) tradition, but I wonder if similar leanings towards community are happening in other faith traditions.
Since making my petition to become a Benedictine oblate I've mentioned it to a couple of (non-religious) work colleagues and have not been met with the incredulity I expected.

By: Eliacin

Eliacin — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:53:00 +0000

thanks for the shout out.

Now my concern is as with any social movement of resistance, once this new wave of new monasticism becomes the flavor of the month, it runs the risk of losing it's prophetic voice and praxis become just another segment of institutional religion. The ways of the empire are very ingenious and can perversely (sp?) turn it's own dissidents into players in the market capitalist way.