Hi guys,
So, I just hung up with Brothers Mark and Geoffrey from SSJE. Mark is the Interns Director whom I have spoken with before and Brother Geoffrey is a really nice person with a distinctive British accent.
That conversation was a lot of fun. Evidently I said a lot of things without realizing that I said them..? I have a tendency to do that I think...
We talked about some of the things that attracted me to the internship. Some of them are the structured way of living and the aspect of the entire community's purpose being the will of God and providing their guests the space they need to experience that for themselves as well as their ministry to the large number of young adults in the area. Another aspect that intrigues me is the opportunity to look past those pre-conceived notions about folks who go to Harvard and MIT etc., and be able to look past them and see who these people are as students.
We then went on to discuss what I thought my gifts and skills are. I know that I have this ability to get to know people on a deeper level than I initially intend, and it has been said to me that I have the gift of Evangelism. Frankly, in college it was inviting people to be open to the idea and also including that we had food. College students go for that, especially if its free.
I asked for clarification on how the interactions between the guests and the brothers differ from the relationship that the interns have with the brothers. Evidently, it's kind of obvious but for some reason I didn't really get it; the guests don't really have much to do with what's going on. They're there for quiet time and worship and potentially some spiritual direction whereas the interns are helping with the behind-the-scenes work. I've always enjoyed that aspect of things, it gives me a depth of understanding on how things work and for some reason it makes it that much more special.
The one thing I thought that would be the most difficult for me in-terms of the monastic way of living is all of the quiet time with nothing to do. Evidently as an intern, I won't have many times where there's absolutely nothing to do, but I gather there will be periods of silence.
I may be reading too much into this, but I think Br Geoffrey in-particular liked a lot of what I had to say.
Now onto the rest of my life, lol.
Needless to say, my Lenten experiment hasn't particularly failed but let's just say that I probably tried too much too soon, especially since I was doing it by myself and didn't really have any accountability. For some reason, I find I need that...
The one thing I was able to hold onto was that of Evening Prayer. Morning prayer on the other-hand... I completely messed up my sleeping schedule so I was Way off. So Morning Prayer practically has been non-existant for the last two or three weeks.
Because I had this phone call this morning, I was able to drag myself out of bed at 8. But I'm noticing that I'm getting sleepy...
So, this is Holy Week. If your FB friends of mine, you'll notice my profile picture. I like it. I'm looking forward to the Lenten services this week. I didn't really have the time the opportunity (or the ride) in college to go to these but this year that is different. I may not be able to go to all of them, but I'm going to go to as many as possible.
Something else going on this afternoon, I'm going to the doctor for my medical eval. It's this four or five page form from the diocese that I have to get filled out. Needless to say, I think I'm going to be at the doctor's office for a while and most likely come home being minus a few vials of blood.
So, that's it for now...
I'll keep you posted!
Nancy`
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