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The Monastery
July 1, 2006
Dear Friends,
In the June Newsletter last year (2005) I referred to the
BBC Documentary called “The Monastery” which followed the
journey of five “modern men” through forty days in the
Benedictine Monastery at Worth. Therefore, I was very
interested to watch a programme this month interviewing
those five men when they came back to share a weekend at
the Monastery a year on from their initial experience.
All five had been influenced to a greater or lesser extent
and found something of deep value in the spiritual depth of
the life of the Monks. Anthony was better able to reflect
on their own lives and relationships with others and Peter
became less cynical about belief systems and could actually
say he believed in Jesus as the Son of God. Gary,( who had
previously been in an Irish paramilitary group), because
of the programme, had the opportunity to work in prisons
sharing the Good News of Jesus. Although he found it very
hard to give up the security of his painter and decorating
job, had actually stepped out in faith and was ministering
to needy prisoners.
Nick who had been much tied up in academic study had been
greatly challenged by the example of brothers in another
Monastery, that they visited, where the monks lived in
solitude for prayer and study, only coming together for
worship in Chapel. This was a very specialized calling but
rekindled his own thoughts towards Ministry in the Church
of England and since the series has offered and been
accepted for training as a priest.
Tony, who had had a deep encounter with God towards the end
of the Forty Days was struggling to work out how to deal
with that reality. Coming back on the weekend revealed for
him two areas that need addressing. Firstly, he had not
joined a local Church but just kept coming back to the
monks. It is a real challenge for us who make up the church
to realize how hard it is for some people to make that step
into fellowship especially, as in Tony’s case, if he found
the Churches he visited to be rather “plastic” and lacking
in real depth. We always want people to be at home among
us, so that they can have time and space to let God speak
to them. The second area that Tony reflected on was that
following the Christian path was more than just an
experience of God or even trying to avoid the excesses of
life he had previously allowed himself to fall into. He was
challenged by Gary’s willingness to seek to help others and
the very end of the documentary said he had actively
started voluntary work.
It is always fascinating to look at others moving in their
spiritual journey but one of the challenges for us is how
have we moved on during this last year. The forty days in
the Monastery coincided with the Forty Days of Purpose
Course at our Church and so I would like to ask, a year on
whether it is all just a dim memory for you or whether you
are allowing those truths to shape your life? Even if you
were not part of that Course it would be good to ask the
question, “How much have I grown during this last year? Do
I love Jesus more and desire to please Him? I hope we will
all continue to ask that year by year and discover like the
“modern men” in the documentary that God is more than
relevant to our twenty-first century world.
With warmest Christian Greetings
Kath Pawlett
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