Category: philosophy/religion topics
Hi all,
So for a while now, I have been contemplating changing my life completely. In a way, it would be ending this life, and moving to another, but I wouldn't actully be "ending" my life. Anyway, to get to the point, currently, I am a sophomore music education student and enjoying it. I have so many wonderful friends, and feel, somewhat, that I am on the right track. However, something hit me the other day. For some reason, I felt that all of this just isn't right. After a long period of contemplation, a wild idea occured to me. What if I were to completely leave this life behind and enlist in a monastery? It would surely do me good to seclude myself as it would help me to knowGod better and, hopefully, help me to know myself better. The decision, though, is a hard one because I truly hate to leave every one I have known behind. I will have to leave this life entirely and start anew, and it just saddens me greatly to think that I will never be able to see or talk to all those whom I know and love. If anyone has any thoughts that might help me with this decision, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, and God bless.
Ryan
Ryan, I am hoping that you do not receive too much criticism by putting your question on this board. The religion board might have been safer, as we could more easily protect you from those who might mock or criticize your decision, but I hope they will not.
As to your decision, I say continue to pray very fervently about it. Not just praying as in you talking to God, but be stil, and listen for His answer, for the way He directs you. Consult with other brothers and sisters in Christ who know you, have them pray for you about it, or even better, with you about it. Sometimes God gives the wisdom and answers to someone other than ourselves. It is good to gather in a group and pray with others, if you are able to, as wel as to pray alone with God.
Practically speaking, maybe try to journal out your thoughts. You seem to be an intelligent writer. Write down what would be the pros, and cons, of each decision. I know that's making it sound very worldly and logical, but as Christians, we can't just throw our logic out of the equasion anymore than we can our souls and hearts. So make a list. What would be your goals on your current path,and the pros and cons of staying there? What would be your goals by entering a monastery, and the pros and cons of that? Show these writings to those you trust, and maybe have them pray over the writings with you.
As I write this, I am also thinking somewhere that I've heard of programs that allow students to enter monasteries for short periods of time, like 9 months or so, to see if it is what they really want. That student can then make it a life-long decision, or can go back out into the world with the learning they have gained from their time in the monastery. Perhaps you could do some research, see if such a program exists where you are, or at any of the monasteries you were thinking about, and that might be a good way to decide this. Either way, it's definitely not something you want to make a rash decision about.
Above all, it sounds like you need wisdom and direction that no one on Earth can give you, but I hope I've helped some.
ryan, I'm not catholic, but I am a christian. When I'm making a decision in life, Here are some things to consider.
Most importantly, pray and contemplate. Listen to that small soft voice. Make sure it is what god is directing you to do. At the same time, try and determine why you want to do this? do you have a strong desire to get closer to god or are you settling on a course because you feel as though your options and opportunities are limmited.
I understand that in monastic orders, there are various degrees of separation from the world. Contact the various ones you are interested in and research their beliefs, practices, and how or if you would fit in.
Once you have decided which one is the best fit, go to the order in which you are interested , and find out stuff like if devotional materials can or are in a format you can use. Have an honest discussion with the leadership to determine what their attitude would be about having a blind novitiate in their midst. remember that priests and brothers are humans as all of us are and may have prejudices and attitudes on which they need to work.
additionally determine what degree of separation you want. many orders may be issolated and contemplative. others have that component but also do much service from teaching, to witnessing to agricultural work or whatever.
this is delicate. there is the celibacy commitment. as a man, are you able or willing to make this?
hope i haven't offended and that i'm making sense. Please let us know what our final decisiont is. I will be praying that this is a rewarding and satisfactory time of change for you.
Awesome post, Turricane. You thought of several things which I did not. Smile.
Hi Ryan,
I don't know you, but I will keep you in my prayers.
Good luck and go with God.
There's a religion board? I looked for one, but I didn't see it. I'll surely look again.
Thanks to all of you for your advice. Sister dawn (I used to know your real name, but it escapes me now :) you mentioed programs where one could go to a monastey fora few months and learn the way of life. That thought didcross my mind, and I may very well do that, however, I must be very careful. You see, I am not the kind of person who would be comfortable isolating myself from the world for a long period of time, and then coming back to find that the rest of the world had moved on and I am left behind. It's like that old legend of Rip Van Winkle, the man who slept for 100 years in the mountains and then awoke to find that life had passed him by. That is not somethng I could easily handle. However, I do think a few months in such a program will not be such a detriment. Thanks again all. If you have nymore houghts, please feel free to npost them here or private message or quicknote me.
Much love and God less,
Ryan
It's a subcategory of the Safe Haven board.
Good luck in whatever you decide.
ryan,
have you considered priesthood instead? i won't pretend to know everything about it all, but you would still have the religion aspect without the isolation of a monestary.
Well, no, I haven't because the isolation is kind of what I'm going for. You see, it's not exactly simply my area of study that I'm not quite happy with-it's just kind of the way life is at this moment. I certainly would not say that I am at all "depressed" with life. It's more a feeling that this is not right. I think the isolation would help me to figure out exactly what is right. As I said earlier, my greatest sadness is that I will be leaving all the people I know and love. I am just not the kind of person who can "disappear" from society for years and then resurface and pick up where I left off. I would either simply retreat to a monastery for like six months, or retreat and stay there for good. So... what I'm trying to say is... I'm not seeking a different area of study. Rather, I'm seeking a different way of life.
Ryan, my real first name is Alicia. I don't think if you went into a monastery for six to nine months, you'd find that the world had moved on all that much. Not as much as if you went in for years and then re-emerged.
Ryan, why don't you isolate yourself where you are? you must have your own bedroom or a room which only you use. Why not just go in there, close the door to everything outside, and interact with God?
Surely God would want you to get on with your life, but if you have a personalised relationship with God, which is just between you and him, you can communicate with him when doesn't clash with other things you're doing, and he will communicate to you his advice on this and other matters when you want his advice.
If you sleep alone, the time before you go to sleep, and any time you're awake in the night could be used to communicate with God.
In summary you can create your own monastery for your own personal use.
Or you can do as I do. often on the way to work on the subway, i put on the hadphones and pray. they block out the noise and I get that special isolation on the go so to speak.
Isolation in one's own room is great, but it doesn't really do much, because the rest of the world is too close by, and there's much too much to do. My idea really is to essentially isolate myself from outside life for a good period of time. I am really thinking, now, that a good 6 months in isolation would be just what I am looking for. Thanks again to all of you for your help.
Hi, all. I've been told to move this topic to the religion board, so here it is. Hope you guys can still find it.
You should be commmended on realizing you have issues and taking the initiative to resolve them. Many of us would like to do what you are doing but put other priorities ahead of it.
i wouldn't put a time limmit on your withdrawal from the world. He may tell you what you need to know in 60 minutes, six hours, six days or six weeks or some other number. You are putting God in a box of your own design. I'd just say that you want to isolate until our llord tells you to come back or until you get the answers you need.
The problem with this strategy is that after the time expires, you'll go back into the real world and you may feel that you need God's advice to help you through a new situation. Do you plan to retreat into months of isolation each time? I think fitting a daily conversation with God into your routine would enable you to live your life, and enable you to receive the advice he has for you and take it immediately.
These are very good posts, ans here's my opinion on it.
If this is what God wants you to do, he will show that to you. Yes, the world is very close, and there are a lot of things that would take your focus off of God and what he wants for you. What I would do is this:
Hi, this might sound weird, but I always wanted to be a nun at one point in my life. I too wanted to be closer with God but he had other plans in mind for me. I agree with what others have said here, pray, read your bible, and meditate on God's Word and be still and listen.
Lelia
Hi Ryan, as others have said, think of your motivations. Are there other less radical ways in which you could change your life? Have you considdered being a monk for awhile? Be aware that lots of monks aren't contemplative, and they work in the real world, yet live in community. This might be more appealing for you, as it may seem less drastic. Go to Mass, pray, read the Bible. Ask a priest what he thinks of the idea. If you don't like something about your life, change. Switch majors if you want, or make a new set of friends if that's the issue. If though, you really feel drawn to the monastic life, then go for it. You may want to join a lay community that practices a particular spirituality. If you feel called to be a contemplative monk, then go for that too. Surround yourself with people who support you and can help you through your struggle. Please feel free to send me a private message if you'd like to discuss the topic further, as this must be a difficult struggle for you. God bless.
Hello, First, pease excuse this if it sounds irreverent, it's not meant to be. You are, as you said, a sophomore. Many sophomores experience this "why-are-we-here" thinking. The Freshman year is over, you're really into the grind of school. I'm not saying it's God: many people seem to know this far more easily than I: my wife, for instance. But although I'm a pragmatist at heart, I have been forced at least on one occasion to make a decision that required a lot of prayer and what they call "spiritual counsel," basically just advice?" from people who have been in the faith fora long time. I heard many things then, but something that rang true to me is that ultimately, God makes sense. This contradicts what many try and impose saying to let go the mind which i have not, and will not. But to assert that God makes sense, e.g. not the stuff you see on 20/20 or read about where people wasfind God" by doing things we would call strange, or even dangerous. People had tried to tell me about Abraham, from Genesis, having to do what they thought would be crazy or unusual, but in fact that may not be the case. Once I was told this, that God makes sense, admittedly I went somewhat outside their circle to go figure it out. Their example of Abraham, well he was already a nomad / pastoralist (herdsman) by all the descriptions they give in the Bible, which match similar time and culture to the Mesopotamian empires. I am admittedly an amateur history buff and not a professional, but after really looking at this, the decision he had had to make, while challenging, might not have been crazy -- leaving his family and moving to a new place. So when it came to my decision, I did determine what events lead up to where I was going and, as my wife and others had put it, "preparNot," although not in the active sense of the word, but you should be able to see if events are leading you that way. But it also may take great faith to stay right where you are. I think many of us fall into one of two camps, although a balance is obviously better: Either people think an unusual phenomenon is always unexplained natural causes, discontent or feelings, or on the other side, if it's unusual, it must be God somehow. The difference is hard to know, although I admit my bias to the first. Hth
Hi,
okay, here's my opinion: To be in a monestry for a while might do you good, to find some inner peace and quiet and to spend time with god.
But the thing is that Jesus says we are to be in the world but not off the world. I think you should not stay in a monestry all your life. Have you ever been in one? I think what Alicia suggested above is the best idea, maybe go there for a short term. And I totally agree with the others as well who said that god still speaks to you and you should listen to what he says to you. Keep praying about it. Usually with such a big step, I have found that god speaks very very clearly either through the still small voice or just through circumstances, opening doors suddenly and bringing people across your path who speak into your life.
Whatever your decision is, or was, since the post is a few months old, I wish you god's abundant blessing.