I think it's time for a re-visit. I would like to take another look at "the cloistered heart," at its basic analogies, at the whats and whys and wheres and hows. Oh, I know that's what I technically do here on a regular basis, but I personally could use a back-to-the-very-basics-refresher. Besides: new people come here on a daily basis (welcome!), and it's easy to get lost when we're trying to make our way through a blog like this one.
This is another of those "things-that-will-take-several-posts." Because much has been covered in the past, I'll be quoting some earlier writings and perhaps even re-posting a few things. But I have a feeling there will be new thoughts stirred into the mix along the way... new "areas of the monastery" we have not yet explored.
For now, I will leave us with a few questions to ponder - and, ideally, to take to prayer...
- Do I find the idea of a cloistered heart appealing? Why or why not?
- Probably I live in the midst of the world. Maybe I'm married. I might have a stressful job, a busy life, a house filled with children. How can "monasticism" have anything at all to do with me?
Tomorrow (or later today, technically, for I write this after midnight), we'll look a bit more into what the cloistered heart is.... and what it is not.
Hope to see you then!
Painting: Nannette Bleuler, Rheinfall; in US public domain due to age
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