I said in my last post that I wanted to share about my friends in l'Arche. But then, I felt that before I do that I want to say a bit about my sisters in the monastic life. They were my companions over 30 years; their friendship, the joys and difficulties we shared, the sorrows we experienced, the insights that formed us have helped me to be, for better or for worse, the person I now am.
One of the things visitors, friends, strangers ask about the monastic life is, what do you actually do? When they are told that the vocation is primarily, to pray for our world, they go on to ask, couldn't you do something more useful like nursing or teaching or working with the poor? And the answer is, no.
There are two things at work here: the first is the idea of 'call' and the second is the belief that prayer is, in and of itself, useful. Each sister feels 'called' to this specific form of life, feeling that here in this monastery, in this community is where she belongs. Obviously, if you cannot see any value in prayer and in communal living then you will not see any value in this kind of life.
Life in an 'enclosed' environment is very demanding when you are living together 24/7 . You are living with between 10 and 20 other women whom you might not have chosen to live with, whose backgrounds are widely different and whose temperaments are as varied as any other walk of life. The sisters I have lived with have come with many life experiences. Most have carried responsible jobs, one or two have been married, a number have advanced education. There are artists, poets, musicians. There are women from all classes of society and a variety of cultures.
I believe that what makes all this work is first of all, a common sense of goal - the community is there to do, in secular words, a job. Secondly and more important perhaps, is the sense that part of that work is to try to be the presence of love in our world. Because that is what God is: love. So in these small, fragile communities of women love is really worked at. However difficult for instance, a clash of temperaments may be, each one works to resolve difficulties, to ask or give forgiveness - though it may take time. Each one tries to be a sister to all the others, not just some. Each one tries to appreciate the gifts of the others even when one might want to be consumed with jealousy.
Each community is meant to be self-supporting so there is remunerative work to be done in the times between communal and individual prayer. There is a time of socializing in the evening for an hour (I am talking here about a specific form of contemplative life, that of the Discalced Carmelites). There are times of celebration and most of all this is embedded in a constant, deep and nourishing silence. It is a full life and for those who are called, a fulfilling one.
One of the other questions people ask is: aren't you running away from life by hiding in a monastery? I hope you may see from the above sketch of community living that it would be hard to run away from such constant presence of other human beings. It can seem a bit like pebbles in a tumbler, rubbing against each other, eventually, hopefully, polishing each other to their fullest beauty. It is a wonderful and difficult school of learning to love. And because love is the most important 'quality' of our God it is the most important way each has to be a follower of Jesus.
I wanted to share this because I want to honour the sisters I have left behind. They are living out for us all, a demanding and unappreciated life of prayer. I think we will all discover someday how those small lights shining in our world, have made our lives and our world a great deal better .
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