New writing about old ways

Monasticism remixed seems to be a recent, but worthy trend. Young disciples are gathering to pray 24/7, breathing prayer and living in community in the UK, the US and across continents not known for coalface faith. These new monastics may sport tattoos and roll with tiny speakers in their ears, but they are discovering & expressing the beauty of Benedictine & Ignatian spirituality.

You may not be called to be a monk or a nun, but have you considered being an oblate? Possibly not. But it is a viable option without quitting your day job.

With whispers of Francis Schaffer and idealistic initiatives, communities are exploring what Jesus possibly considered everyday realities of how faith should be lived.

"Every generation of Christians has this problem of learning how to speak meaningfully to its own age. It cannot be solved without an understanding of the changing existential situation which it faces. If we are to communicate the Christian faith effectively, therefore, we must know and understand the thought forms of our own generation. These will differ slightly from place to place, and more so from nation to nation. Nevertheless there are characteristics of an age such as ours which are the same wherever we happen to be. It is these that I am especially considering in this book. And the object of this is far from being merely to satisfy intellectual curiosity. As we go along, it will become clear how far-reaching are the practical consequences of a proper understanding of these movements of thought."
(Francis A. Schaeffer, Escape From Reason, Introduction)

One example of this new wave is Scott A. Bessenecker's The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World's Poor. In highlighting five characteristics of effective ministry to the impoverished: incarnational, devotional, communal, missional & marginal, Bessenecker ushers in the same spirit as found in St Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa, the Moravians & others.

Consider the simple way community and the boiler rooms and see if you hear the whispers of the old saints, their robes dragging on the ground behind them as they sought opportunities to serve and practiced the rhythm of prayer as the bookends of their days.