White Rabbit Moments
01/June/2008 Filed in: Jottings
In theory, life in a monastery should be calm and peaceful, full of that "busy leisure" St Bernard writes so eloquently about. Alas, it is often full of "White Rabbit moments". Nuns can be as busy as anyone else, sometimes even more so, because whatever the deadline, whatever the need of the person who telephones or knocks at the door, the Divine Office must still be celebrated and the personal commitment to prayer and study must continue, day in, day out. This obedience to the daily living out of the Rule constitutes a real asceticism. Asceticism gets a bad press in the west, where we have become accustomed to getting our own way and indulging as many of our appetites as we can with no thought about the impact on others. The result seems to be increasing misery in the midst of affluence for some, and for others, a mounting sense of frustration and impotence that often issues in violence. Toay's podcast reflects on the root causes of violence in ourselves and in society at large.