The one thing I ask of the Lord—There are things that look so appealing to me. One is the idea of being a monk, spending my time in a quiet atmosphere, writing, reading, maybe even a vow of silence, of poverty.
the thing I seek most—
is to live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
delighting in the Lord’s perfections
and meditating in his Temple.
For he will conceal me there when troubles come;
he will hide me in his sanctuary.
He will place me out of reach on a high rock.
Then I will hold my head high
above my enemies who surround me.
At his sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy,
singing and praising the Lord with music. (Psalm 27:4-6)
Of course, I would like to stay married. I do not want to give up my wife. For one thing, I love her and like being with her.
But even so, I have considered the idea of some kind of vacation like this. If I could find the right setting where I could do it for a week.
There would be no internet service, no phone service. A typewriter would do, or a small computer hooked up with nothing but a word processing program. No Free Cell, no Solitaire, no games of any kind. No TV or movies. No books of any kind except for my Bible. No distractions.
Just me and God, living in an attitude of meditation.
In fact, I have told Ella that if she died, I may become a monk of sorts. I would get rid of everything else and maybe just wear a robe. I would have to have good sandals as my feet are bad, but still, just nothing but me and God.
Life would look for me and not find me. It would be good.
I even set up a schedule for a week long time of fasting, prayer and writing, with periods of exercise.
6AM WakeWhether it would work or not, I do not know. It just sounds idyllic. I would probably be bored after a couple of days.
6:15-7:00 Morning prayer and meditation
7-8 Exercise and walking
8-9 Reading
9-12 Writing
12-1 Prayer and meditation
1-2 Exercise and walking
2-3 Reading
3-5 Writing
5-6 Exercise and walking with meditation
7- 8 Prayer and meditation
8-9 Final writing
9PM Bed
But the idea of not worrying about anything, to just stand and let my mind go in directions I want it to without distractions.
Could I do it? Maybe not. But maybe so. I would like to try.
It comes to mind that the Monks live in groups for a reason,not the least of these is safety, but also to aide each other not to become too distracted for too long.
ReplyDeleteI once went to a farm to live alone for a week at a time. It was a very revealing time for me.
I think you would like it for a while at least, especially if something ever happen that you were alone .
Many people will miss you even for a short time, even now I find it necessary to be alone for a time, I don't know of any one who died because they couldn't reach me for a day or two.
Jim Teasley