The Monastery part 2

I finished watching The Monastery over last weekend and did not regret it. Being a fly on the wall watching ordinary people (well perhaps they are like us?) learn about the monastic life and the particular spirituality of both the Benedictines and the Carthusians, felt like a priviledge.

I am not surprise about the effect on the lives of the five men who spent 40 days in the community but was a little surprised how the abbey itself as a community was affected. One character Tony (yes that was his name) seemed to find it a deeply significant event in his life and seemed even as a non-believer in God to be genuinely touched to admit transcendent experiences which affected him profoundly. I wonder why we are not touched by the divine more in our lives? The program seemed to point to pace of life, radical shift from individual to communal vision, and the search for profound self knowledge or perhaps acknowledgement/acceptance of self. For many it was the simple unconditional acceptance of the community of the monks and learning that for themselves in their relationships.