Life in the Monastery

This past week I spent time with both Franciscan and Benedictine monks. This was a tremendous experience for me. Life seems to move so much slower in the Monastery. In class we spoke of the Monastic reading being like walking in a garden, I always liked that image. This image however seemed to come to life at the Mount Tabor Monastery in David Kentucky. I attended morning prayer there with Benedictine nuns. The way they read during their morning prayer was so slow and relaxed. When we read we seem to rush through the reading to get finish it without taking the time to really reflect on the meaning. In the monastery it is very reflective and one pays attention to every single word. Reading seems to be a much more important experience in the Monastery than it does in our world today. At first it was hard for me to read at their pace and really meditate on the words. I wanted to speed through it but I was forced to slow down and read at their pace. Once I got used to this I really fell in love this way of reading and this form of prayer. It is a much more connecting experience than the normal way we would read. One really grasps the material at hand this way.