I have a sweatshirt with a Leonard Cohen quote on it that reads, "There is a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in."
Now, before I get to what I really want to talk about, I am going to take a quick detour. This may be a bold statement. I could live by the schedule of the monks and nuns. Their way of life really fascinates me. Rising at midnight sounds brutal, but I unintentionally get up at 12:00 a.m. anyway. When you break it down, the rest of their day somewhat resembles a day of college, but it was centered around God (thus, it was better). Study, pray, praise, eat, study, mass (maybe), work. Work, praise, work, praise, work, praise. Eat, study, pray, praise, bed. College when broken down is all work, eat, pray, and praise for passing that test you didn't study for. The going to bed early would mess with me a little, but I could adjust. The monks lived a simplistic life down to the food they ate. In summary, I really admire their way of life. Their day builds a habit of praise and prayer. Every other item on their "To-Do List" is praise.
Moving on to what I really want to talk about, the sentence at the end of the schedule on page 27 of The Roman Liturgy struck me. “...Nuns or monks retired relatively early, since once daylight ended, light was expensive and rarely bright.” Light is something the modern age takes for granted. If I have a nightmare in the dead of night, it takes nothing for me to get out of bed and flip on the light. Illuminating the room provides a reassurance, because you can see everything. The light makes the shadows recede. Reading through a monk or nun's day, I have wonder what it was like to not have the option of turning on the light. Did the monks and nuns have nightmares, since their lives were so dedicated and centered around Christ and not worldly pleasures? If they did have nightmares, what would they do upon awakening? Would they go immediately into prayer? Would they walk outside under the light of the stars?
I believe, based on their schedule, that their reaction should be prayer and praise. My reaction is to turn on the light because that is what I have built a habit of doing. They spent more than half their day praying and praising. Their immediate reaction would have been what they were taught: go to God. That's just my observation. Thoughts?
P.S. I commented on Lily's post and Logan's post.
I agree! My family likes to go tent camping. Our favorite places to camp are in the middle of nowhere with limited lighting. Why? To see the stars. But, I think it also shows how reliant we are on things that are not ultimately important or distract us from what is important. Like the example you gave with light or, as I notice a lot, the internet. Sometimes, I think we need to have a day like the monks and focus on prayer and praise. What is great is we do have those days. That is one of the many reasons why the Sabbath is important.
ReplyDeleteI love that you pointed this out. We take so much for granted. I think about how much I hate the way in which we lose daylight in the winter. I can't imagine going to bed at 5PM. I would be so mad to not be able to work or study or praise anymore simply because I could not see. They really had a peace about things that I don't know that I may ever achieve.
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