Monastic Living

Watching the film on Thrusday made me recall my visits to the Abbey of Gethsemane, and the Abbey of Saint Meinraid. While neither of these monasteries require their monks to take vows of silence, they still hold silence in a high regard. The silence I was able to experience at these places is unlike the silence of life at home. It is a stillness. Maybe this is why it's so hard to experience this kind of silence in our society. Our society is constantly moving, as where the monastic experience is to slow down be still and contemplative. A famous monk from Gethsemane, Thomas Merton wrote in one of his books for one to try to go to a room with another person, and sit with that person in silence with no books or writing materials, and just simply be. The modern world is always about doing this and doing that but not about simply being a human. I have tried this exercise Thomas Merton suggested. I only did it for a half hour but it was still very affective and relaxing. One realizes the sacredness of silence. I agree with Simon in that we are loosing this silence. As we lose this silence we also lose what it is to be a human.