Just sit back and eat popcorn....

This blog entry is a reflection on the famous line of Shakespeare: "All the worlds a stage".

Here at the abbey we have quite a diverse and entertaining cast of characters living out varied expressions of monastic life. Community life anywhere has challenges, as people tend to rub off one another's rough edges in the day to day situations which emerge. Those who are attracted to monasteries can be quite eccentric and "abnormal" in their personalities.

Years ago, in the late 80's when I first came here, I had no experience of community life whatsoever apart from life in my immediate family growing up. As a result of this, it became quite easy for me to become fixated on other monk's behaviors and to become annoyed by them. I had monastic ideals in my heart, and these seasoned representatives of such ideals weren't living them to the degree or according to the expression that I thought they should at the time. I had read the books and seen the movies. I wasn't witnessing authenticity according to my expectations...such that had led me to the life. Out of perhaps 15 monks, there might be two or three whom I considered to be role models and authentic witnesses. The others were just "inmates" or "residents" of the monastery, hanging around the soup pot in the kitchen and chatting about worldly things.

As time has gone on, I have learned not to be so concerned about the actions and expressions of others. I have also learned to focus on my own shortcomings, and I have MANY of these. Monastic life is sometimes referred to as a "school of self knowledge". There still are individuals in the community who act out their eccentricities in a way that is WAY too extreme. My current philosophy in relation to such characters on the stage of life is to "sit back and eat popcorn". We don't need to become annoyed, we are witnessing a particular scene that is set before us by the Grand Director of the Play. We can be entertained just as easily as we can become annoyed. And we too are characters playing our roles (each another's audience) out from which other's can extract entertainment. This light hearted approach lowers our stress levels and facilitates an enhanced quality of life. We deepen. Let's all be light hearted about such things that we have no control over. Whether our peers are aggravating, grumpy, loud, smelly or whatever....that is their role to play presently on the stage of life. But let's also choose our role model's wisely and seek to be conformed to the image of Jesus in all we do. This is the best place to be when the curtain finally comes down on our world.