Yes, it's late but I had 2 glasses of Pepsi Cola (which spells Episcopal BTW!) after dinner and forgot the stuff is loaded with caffeine! So I'm still up in the wee small hours!
Try this on and see how it fits:
"The purpose of Benedictine spirituality is to gather equally committed adults for a journey through earthen darkness to the dazzling light that already flames in each of us, but in a hidden place left to each of us to find" (Joan Chittister OSB).
There is so much in this. The group of adults (intentional community) can be residential or dispersed or local or all of these things. The dazzling light within can be our soul or personality or essence - call it what you will. But the hidden place? It's within our own hearts and minds to be sure, but this reminds me that community living is but part of what I'm looking for. That inner journey of discovery is something that each of us ultimately takes alone. The monos in Monastic. The religious with their cell may live in a community, but ultimately their pilgrimage is towards God and that is a lonely journey, even as part of a group. And similarly, we only discover happiness and fufillment when we within our selves feel that our light is shining in a proper and fufilling way. Dozens of others can say we are a light to them or a success but unless we have internalised a sense of fufilling a higher purpose and see that this is true in regard to our own situation where we are in the here and now, then we will not feel content or happy. The Benedictine approach is to stay in the one Abbey and find peace there, not to run around seeking grass that is greener (alledgedly!) elsewhere.
I find this discovery of truths from others thinking nicely described in a phrase I heard on Tuesday night: "borrowing wisdom". Hopefully God will let us keep it on long term loan!
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