« The 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Free Lunch? | Main | Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Never Give Up! »
August 10, 2008
The 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Discovering Silence
In the year 1984, the German filmmaker, Philip Groning, sent a letter to the abbot of the Carthusian order at the Grand Chartreuse, deep in the French Alps. He asked if it might be possible for him to come to the monastery and film the daily course of their monastic schedule. He would not interfere with their personal lives; He just wanted to be among the monks to get a sense of what the life of silence and penance might look like to an outsider and why an individual might choose to practice it in such a severe form.
The abbot wrote to Mr. Groning and said that he would consult with his brother monks and get back to him. He did, indeed, get back to him but only after a lapse of 16 years! Of course, the life of Carthusian monks does not move very swiftly. They are not going anywhere soon.
Philip Groning was particularly interested in understanding what drew these men to monastic life and how they could withstand the long hours and days of work, prayer and silence.
He then lived with the monks for a year and totally immersed himself in the hush of monastic life during all its seasons. At year’s end, he returned to Germany and produced the award-winning film now entitled Into Great Silence.
It has since become so popular that folks of all religious persuasions are flocking to see it. Some even say that it is a kind of “personal retreat”, all three hours of it.
It has often occurred to me that monastic life has always attracted people. It’s not that most would personally choose to enter a monastery, but the very life itself seems so fascinating, so different, so challenging. Perhaps it is the silence itself that is a mystery to some.
Of all the many human gifts, speech and communication seem to be the ones that define us as human. Hence, to voluntarily give up all this seems a great mystery in itself. Why would anyone not want to talk?
It might also seem to some that silence is a penance or that that it is meant to help the monks pray “better.” But my sense is that practicing silence as a penance is defeating its very purpose.
Rather, it seems to me, silence may well help the individual pray, but that can only happen if one can first discover his inner being, his heart’s desire, his reason for living. When one comes to such a sense of peacefulness, then prayer is already happening.
It might also be said, of course, that the regimen of silence should not be limited to life in a monastery. However, I think some people have already found ways to pray right in the midst of the hustle and bustle of city life. Many have found a personal monastery in their cubicle at work or in the noise of a manufacturing plant.
I admit that a monastery deep in the Alps might provide a more conducive setting, but places of contemplation happen where they happen. It’s what we make of them that ultimately count.
I have watched the film several times and have always come away refreshed and chastened. Would I now immediately head off to a Carthusian monastery? Not a chance! But, experiencing silence from a recliner is probably the next best thing.
Readings: 1 Kings 9: 11-13; Romans 9: 1-5; Matthew 14: 22-33
Posted by Cindy Lentine on August 10, 2008 03:25 PM.
