We said yesterday that monasticism is a congregation of aloneness, a gathering place, even a cyber place, for those whose leisure activity is a sprint toward the fullness of the Lord. No one can seek Him instead of another (although on behalf of another, great things may be won.) Each alone must find Him and hold Him fast, but we can discover others who are in pursuit.
Most runners will tell you they’d rather go out for a nice two-hour training effort than spend twenty minutes on sprint intervals, and many Christians “run” that way. They jog along, staying the course, and nothing is better than staying the course. However ...
It’s just this, there’s just this little matter of running to win. In any marathon, the field may be ever so large (in some of the larger races it can take well over an hour for all the contestants to cross the starting line,) but probably not one in a thousand of the many thousands who participate have even thought of winning, never mind the hope of it!
The Scripture seems to indicate otherwise for us. We are to run and train with victory in mind. We get into the ring of life and we box, but not at shadows. A monastery is a congregation, indeed, but more than that, it is a live-in gym membership. We buffet our lethargies, our excesses and out excuses; we burn off the fat of gossip and complaining, we have zero tolerance for offense, and day after day we are steadily building up our prayer and worship muscles.
A good workout is hard work, progressively difficult, and nobody can do it for us, but it is often much easier to get to the gym with a friend. Welcome to Cor Unum Abbey, where the membership is free . . . but not cheap.
Never Alone
by permission
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