The Monastic Order of Saint David

I have decided to start a new Monastic order, the Order of Saint David of Cato, NY.

Let’s just say that I live a reflective life now. God has, in his great mercy, taken me out of the whirlwind of life and set me squarely in my bed where I happen to spend a lot of my time these days, though I do occasionally move to the kitchen\living room area for a change of scenery. So we have a lot of time to think, to ponder, to pray.

It is really a great opportunity. I am alone with my mind a lot; I have nothing to accomplish and no where to go. I don’t need to arrive anyplace. There’s no real schedules, and my projects are quite minimal. When I was at the Kevin Guest House, for instance, I remember the big accomplishment for the day for me was clipping my fingernails. Hey, don’t laugh: it’s something!

Things come back to me. I met a gentleman a year ago who for some reason told me that his teenage daughter, who was quite happy and well-adjusted, suddenly one day tried to commit suicide. That floats back to me, and I can pray. Other things in my life – and people – whose needs I was marginally aware of I can now reconsider and pray about; often, when you talk to someone for even five minutes, you can get a sense of the need they are in.

We often live life so fast, we rarely stop to examine what we are doing, where we are going, and why. We are not sufficiently quiet to hear from above to make those tiny course corrections that may seem unimportant in the grand scheme of things but actually may save the day. “Ponder the paths of your feet,” it says in Proverbs. But if we stop and ponder, perhaps we can hear something simple, perhaps just to address that child in a more uplifting manner – something so small – but perhaps this alone has consequences that are monumental.

So you are praying for me, but I might be praying for you if I remember you.

Being part of this new monastic order has other benefits. You get to look back on your life and see where you’ve blown it and where you’ve succeeded, all in the light of the spirit. God’s word says to think soberly (Romans 12) about these things, and that is important. We cannot change the past, but we can reflect on who we are and what we have been, and get new insight on how to navigate the future.

It’s completely free to join the Monastic Order of Saint David, but there’s only one catch: you have to get brain cancer to join. It’s a good life, but are there any takers?