The Ottery
“If an otter can’t have fun doing something, it just simply won’t do it.”

The Monastery: Weeks 3 and 4

November 17th, 2006

Because I was out of town for a few days, I had TWO episodes of monkery to catch up on this week!

Recently, when I was describing “The Monastery” to someone, I was asked the question, “So, does anybody get voted off, like on ‘Survivor’?” An amusing concept, but no. However, the young ex-Marine Alex does quit the experiment, of his own volition, at the end of the third episode. I guess you could say he votes himself off. His stated reason for leaving is that he took things too far: he and Jon, the other, older ex-Marine, celebrated Mardi Gras the previous night by stealing the monastery’s van and going off to a local bar.

Does that mean that guilt is his motivation for leaving the monastery? It’s a bit ambiguous. He could have stayed. The monks would have forgiven him. But, whatever his reasons, once he’s decided that he’s going, there’s no swaying him.

I have to admit that I’m a bit relieved that Alex is gone from the show, because now I feel we have a chance to hear some of the other seekers’ subtler, but no less important, struggles. Because they don’t exhibit the same theatrical “breaking out” that Alex did, they can get passed over easily for the sake of attention-grabbing TV. In the wake of Alex’s departure, several of the seekers have been more open about their emotional responses.

Tom, the recovering alcoholic, gets some of the best moments in these two episodes. He feels that his faith in God is growing during his stay at the monastery, and he chooses to show his renewed commitment by participating more fully in the monastic liturgy, singing aloud for the first time. Alas for him, he can’t sing. Alas for him and alas for the monks, Prior Christian decides to “confront” him about his atonal singing. Sheesh. He’s trying. Let the fellow make a joyful noise, even if it happens to be an octave below everyone else! At least Prior Christian then tries to help Tom follow the notes, but I would have preferred if he had left the matter completely alone. Surely it’s more important that a newcomer not have his faith squashed than that everybody sings on the same pitch. Of course, churchy people are notoriously insensitive about any guests who don’t follow the unspoken rules of proper behavior. I just thought the monks, with their centuries-old tradition of hospitality, might have been a little more compassionate.

In any case, like I’ve said before, the fact that the monks don’t always do things the way I would is actually comforting, because I can see how God is still working through humans who don’t always do things perfectly.

Warren, the young man who wants to become an Episcopal priest, doesn’t seem to share my view. When the monks do something he disagrees with, he simply writes them off as “wrong.” In the fourth episode, Tom asked him if he had considered joining an Episcopal monastic order. Warren replies that he had looked into it, but he didn’t like the way any of the orders did things. I can understand that. Really, I can. But that’s sort of the whole point of monastic life—that you obey and respect your abbot/abbess and your brothers and sisters, even if you don’t agree with or like them. It’s not the life for everybody. It’s not the life for me—I’m an independent, argumentative American. But I blame that on me and not on monastic tradition. My problem with Warren is that he doesn’t seem to get that, with monasticism, you can’t pick and choose. You either commit wholeheartedly, or you don’t. If you can’t commit, that’s fine—but know that that’s a choice made because of who you are, not because the monks are doing things “the wrong way.” They’re always going to do some things the wrong way. They’re human!

Father Joseph Gabriel (the zealotor!) continued to show more facets during these episodes. On the one hand, he pressed baby-Christian Tom to get his marriage sanctified by the Catholic church, which seemed a little insensitive to Tom’s needs at that point. However, he also tells Tom later that the seekers’ presence in the monastery has been a blessing to the monks. He says it quietly, but without a doubt. Tom is floored by that thought. And probably all the more floored because it came from Father Joseph Gabriel. God speaks words of grace, even through zealotors.

Also, any moment when the monk called Brother Luis speaks makes me wish I had him around as a sort of household monk. He just seems to constantly spew forth wisdom and parables. He actually speaks like one of the ancient Desert Fathers, whose sayings were recorded and passed down through the centuries. Porpoise doesn’t think we really need a pet monk, though . . . which is probably for the best.

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