markdohle

Sorry, I was tired when I responded.....I felt a strong call when I was 15 and never lost it. When I was 18 I joined the Navy because I knew 18 was too young to enter any community. My relationship with God has always been important to me, I have always felt his pull through grace and so it has been a slow growth towards trust. Monastic life is for me, I am called to it, though many don't understand it. I have also had a strong understanding of how fleeting life is, how important love is, and how we are all connected to Christ Jesus. In the Body of Christ we all of our place, this is mine. When I pray I feel a connection with all mean and woman, no matter who they are and lift them up to God's mercy. I believe many monks pray this way. Peace mark

I am used to catholic bashing, it does not bother me. Those who do it here I just don't respond, really too old and tired to do that nonsense anymore. I am very happy that your friend focus on the Lord and seek his Face together. We are all one in Jesus, even if some judge that not to be true......that is on them, not me.....they are still my bothers and sister in Christ Jesus.

Yeah, people come here who are 50 years old, and I remember that they were only five when I came here....time flies. Peace Mark

Thank for your beautiful response. It would wonderful meeting you one day my friend. Peace Mark

Missmuffet....One thing that shines forth in your post is you deep kindness my friend.....you are needed here. Peace mark

It resides in inner conflict and the need of the healing of grace. It is not a place but a condition, of which the Grace of Christ Jesus heals with his Precious Blood. Peace Mark

I do think as we mature our ideas of God deepen as well as our trust. As we look back on our lives and see how the Lord was with us at the worst of times, it allows our compassion for others to grow as well. The deeper our-experience of God's mercy and grace, its giftedness, the more we understand that grace is also at work in others. I think when we get to the point where 'Love cast our fear" is then when we truly learn to love ourselves and others in Him. It is the that the prayer the Our Father takes on a new and deeper dimension. We are called to a relationship with Infinite love, all that impedes that must be healed by the fire of the Holy Trinity....that would include our images of God. Peace Mark

The Carmelites were founded by St. Theresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. They tend to have small communities, while ours can be any size. We both live cloistered lives, but in a different manner. Here in the south we are more open than some of our other Monasteries. Each Community has its own spirit in how it lives out its charisma. Peace Mark

Elizabeth of the Trinity is a very deep mystic. Her insights into the Trinity are profound. Here is a quote that sort of sums up my life and I guess the inner life of many of the men in my community: “Here in Carmel, there is nothing, nothing but God. He is all, He suffices, and one lives for Him alone and for His glory… this life of prayer and contemplation, interceding always for His people before the Face of God…” Below is a quote that brings out the Catholic understanding of how those who have gone before us who now have the heart and mind of Christ intercede for us: “My mission in heaven will be to draw souls, helping them to go out of themselves to cling to God, with a spontaneous, love-filled action, and to keep them in that great interior silence which enables God to make his mark on them, to transform them into himself.” She is well worth reading. Yes the life here is busy, yet we have time everyday for prayer and study. Though as you know we are all unique in how we live out our Christian faith. Some need more prayer, others study and still others manual labor. In community we tend to balance each other out. I was really busy when I worked in our Infirmary, now as retreat master still busy, yet in a different sort of way. If you ever want to come and visit that would be great. Peace Mark

Time goes by so fast, that it seems like a year. Peace Mark

We are careful on how we use it, but it as much a part of the world today as cars and telephones. Peace Mark

I am a Cistercian Monk, the order was founded in 1098. I have been here for 45 years. It is a life of prayer, work and study. We have a retreat house which is quite busy. I give some retreats as well as other monks. Here is our website if you are interested: http://www.trappist.net/

Thank you for this wise and Spirit filled post. We can't change anyone, nor are we called to do so. Nor are called to get angry when others do not do what we want. True there are times to confront, but with love and not out of repressed rage. To truly loved as Jesus calls us to takes a level of self knowledge. Using Scripture to control others usually backfires, for what is needed is to show others the love of Christ Jesus, to be gentle and respectful. Then, when they understand that what we say to them can be taken in because of the Spirit is is given. I believe the 'will to power' is our greatest temptation. Peace Mark

Experiences as a young monk that helped me stay in community (The gift of community and the struggle) People who live in community and by that I am not talking about a religious community but about any gathering or grouping that seeks to live together over the long haul, no matter what the interior struggle or outer chaos is. The giftedness that flows from community includes the struggle, perhaps the most important one. When people separate themselves from their family or larger community because of human weakness and failure, in the long haul miss out on quite a bit. It is when we struggle that the ego is displaced from being the only arbiter of reality. As long as we are by ourselves we are actually infallible, that is until we talk to someone else. Hence the personal need for community of some sort, though it will of course vary from person to person. I tend to isolate, so in community life I struggle with that and am not always successful. However what if I did not belong to any kind of community? I would be the poorer for it, less developed and numb to the reality and needs of others. I would read and pray, I suppose, but I would miss out on the input and richness of others. The years that I spent taking care of our infirm and now working in our retreat house allows me to stay connected with others. I shudder to think what I would have been like if I allowed my desire to isolate to supersede Christ Jesus call for me to love and serve others. When I came here for the first time in 1968 I met a brother by the name of Victor. To tell you the truth I had never met anyone like him. Of course being so young, I was about to turn 20, my experience of certain types of adults were limited…..not so anymore, thanks to living with this grouping of men. He was an Air Force pilate in the 2nd World War and was there when we dropped the atomic bomb on Nagasaki. He did not release the bomb, but he was flying a few miles off and saw the explosion. He never talked about it, but the first time he told me, he looked down ashamed. So he carried that event with him everyday. He was a man who liked everything just so. He had a routine, so when working with him I had to bite my tongue and follow orders. Just like in the Navy. It was not that bad, he had a good sense of humor and he would tell me jokes about himself and his need to be neat, clean and orderly in all things. He was also kind but could be blunt when he needed to be. During my last week of my month visit there I was working once again with Victor. Suddenly I felt closed in and trapped and wanted to get out immediately. It was quite overwhelming. All the while Victor was talking to me, smiling and helping me fold sheets in the laundry. It got worse and just when it became unbearable there was a sudden change in Victor’s face. For just a second I saw the face of Jesus Christ superimposed over his countenance. Then the feeling left me as fast as it had come. I then understood that Christ Jesus is to be seen in the monks here; perhaps it was a temptation. When I went back to the Navy, my experience with Victor stayed with me when I also related to others. I am not saying it was a mystical experience, but it was something I needed at the time. So my struggle with Victor at that time and my wanting to flee, allowed me to enter into a wider understanding of the world. Within that struggle there was also grace and healing. About ten years later, the community was having our 4th of Judy celebration. I was talking to one of the brothers, with whom I did not have any deep connection or friendship. As we were talking I suddenly had the ‘knowing’ that because of our vows and living in community, we were to be connected in a special way for eternity. The suddenness of this experience surprised me, yet again it made me understand the importance of community and how deep the connection is. There is always more to life. As we grow and mature hopefully we will understand that about our faith as well. Who is Christ Jesus, what is He to us? He truly manifests Himself to us in our neighbors if only we had the eyes to see. I guess I from time to time have these experiences because I am so easily led astray and forget what is most important in life. Being in community, learning to love those I am with, to embrace all experiences as gifts, is an important lesson for me to learn. To withdraw would only imprison me in my own subjective self. As I age, I am learning that all belong to my community, but I need a seed community to teach me that. All those who persevere have their stories; I hope that they are not undervalued for the gift that they all are to others. Parents, teachers, friends, police, ministers, priest/brothers and women religious, doctors and nurses and all who keep on the path no matter the cost, yet in the process grow in compassion and love…a long and difficult journey. I think those who or in the service industry are the most often overlooked, yet their contribution is also deeply important. I am speaking of C N A’s, waiters/waitresses, janitors, those who do blue color jobs, truck drivers etc. We are all needed, it is in community that we express the gifts God have given us to serve and love others. —Br.MD

Amen to that.

LOL each day I seem to be finding it harder and harder to find anyone younger than me.

Yeah, and they fly by faster as well ;-) Peace mark

yes of course.

How things change over the years (The gift in staying in one place) Now that I am old and grey, O Lord forsake me not (Psalm 71:18) I love the psalms, we chant five times a day and go through the whole Psalter twice a month. In some Monasteries the entire Psalter is sung every week. I like the way we do it, for then it does not become a burden and that makes it more prayerful. Though I have spoken to monks from other communities and they do like saying the whole Psalter every week. One of sentences that we chant from the Psalms has always jumped out at me. “Now that I am old and grey, O lord forsake me not. (Psalm 71:18). When I came to the Monastery for the first time in November of 1968, I was 19 and the first day I joined the Choir (I was there for a month) it was Psalm 71 that was chanted. At 19 I found the sentence interesting and so far in the future that I did not resonated deeply with me. I was still naïve about how much time I had left, and besides it would be 50 years or so before I had to worry about it. I did however think about how much it must have touched the older monks alive at that time. As the decades passed, this phrase slowly became more real for me. When I was 30, it did hit me that I was really not all that young, but not yet middle age….so plenty of time. When 40, I could see changes in me. I was growing bald, and my body was changing a bit, so it had a little more meaning for me. When 50 it hit home, for I had some health problems then, and my body was different, if not exactly new and improved. My weight was going up every few years. I would be at a certain base weight then one day it would jump four pounds. So now I am a bit overweight and have a pacemaker. When 60 came around, I wondered where the time went, for I thought I had plenty of time when 19, but it seems liked yesterday. So I will soon be 68, a common occurrence for those lucky enough to live that long, unless you born in a leap year. I now take the verse very much too heart, and when I see it I am thankful for my years here, for the monks that I have grown to love as well as the many people who grace us with their presence, faith and often deep friendships. Until I was 45 I did not like aging so much. Then I realized that I seemed to get happier as I aged so I eventually got over that. Now I am grateful for the aging process, for it allows me to let go of things from the past that I tended to cling to. I am not saying it is always pleasant, yet neither was it when I was younger. So now I seek the Lord and wait for the time when I am called home, just as most of us do I believe, even if not talked about that often, if ever. When I look back at the past, when I came here for the first time, most of the monks who were much younger than I am now, are now gone. They for the most part died peacefully and I was honored to be one of the monks who cared for them. Life goes by so fast, knowing that helps me to keep things in perspective allowing me to let go of what becomes superfluous as I age. The Lord is faithful that is what I have learned. In the past, like every human being, I had some very painful dark times. There is no place one can go to and escape that. Yet in all of it, even when I failed deeply, the Lord brought me back. The light came flooding back, a grace, a gift, and now as I enter my last decades (hopefully I have a few decades left); I know now that they will pass even faster than the last 45 years here. God seems to be touching my soul in ways that I never thought possible when younger and as my trust grows, even when he seems to be sleeping in the boat and I am tossed here and there by my inner tumult, yet I am secure. O Lord even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you. (Psalm 139 12)

Just frustrated over politics Not writing this to argue or to cause waves or to point fingers at anyone.....it is just a statement of frustration. Not speaking for anyone but myself as a Christian who seems frozen into some sort of immobility... The time has come when people really have to choose a side. My hope is that when we each do we will use our conscience and not allow ourselves to be swept along by the so called culture war that is going on. Or perhaps there is one....I tend to be confused. The people I meet on a regular basis seem to be down to earth, well intended and thoughtful. Of course when two people get together who have opposing views, it does bring out the worst from both sides. I really see little difference between the two parties when it comes to public debate or should I say bashing. I know in the past it was no different, but with the internet the intensity is growing apace, and doing more harm. I am not sure how I will vote. Hilary I don't trust, Trump, not sure what is behind the bolster. How is a Christian to vote? People tend to vote for self interest and often by their race.... which candidate will really deliver? I wish I was smarter, but I have never gotten politics so I think it freezes me into immobility. Perhaps politics will not change the country. The only way it will change is for each of us to 'change', or to 'convert', or to live out of beliefs in a manner that is consistent with what we say we believe. No matter what they are. If one is a Christian be one, if a humanist, be one, change from the bottom up. Hilary and her husband are in politics as a career, they have gotten rich with it. Nor sure they really care one way or the other. Trump, him I can't figure out at all. I guess self examination must start with me....I think the scripture verse, "The just man falls seven times a day" applies with me. Perhaps we can't be fixed at this time, but maybe there is some sort of law that states what when a society goes so far either way it will come to a crossroads and either live or die. Choose life the Scriptures says....will we, which way should we go? I guess the answer will depend on how deeply we actually live out what we say we believe

Isn't that true of emails etc. I think everything on the internet is there for someone to find if they look hard enough. However, most of us are of no interest to anyone, unless they are trying to rob us. So best not to bank on line either. I like the technology but it is changing to fast for us to really adjust to it. We have a Face Book page and reach many people with the Gospel message. However I can see why people should be cautious. Lots of con men and women there......I never give to any one who ask for help, I believe many of them are making things up and posting things that are made up, with pictures and all. In a few years we may all be connected if we want it or not......or we may need to drop of of the grid. I am starting to get a little nervous, here is a darkness abroad that seems to be growing......only prayer and the covering of the Blood of Christ can protect us.

The man with the prayer-shawl (this is an experience I had with a visitor about two years ago) Compline is our last prayer service (or divine office) of the day. It is at 7:30 and probably the most beautiful of our services. We pray the same prayers for Compline every night, so during the time of the year when the days are shorter it is sung in the dark. It is also for me the hardest one to attend. I am pretty tired at that time, for we get up early, so I guess 7:30 is more like 11:30 as far as my body is concerned. Last night I decided to go for a short walk before Compline to keep myself from dozing. This is a good time of the year for evening’s walks, the weather is gripping, and the sky clear and I love watching the planes that are circling the city to wait their turn to land at the airport. As I was enjoying the walk, I saw a man leaving his car and walking towards our church. I have seen him off and on for the last year and a half that I have been guest master. He likes to come to Compline. He works for a news organization in Atlanta. He sticks out because when he comes he wears a prayer shawl around his neck. Not a Jewish one, which I think are very beautiful (one day I may get one), but similar. I stopped and we chatted for a short while. I noted that I have not seen much of him lately. He told me that he can only come twice a week because of his work, which is Tuesday and Wednesdays…..even then he can’t always make it. He told me that he almost did not come because he was so tired, but came anyway since he can no longer come every night like he did in the past. So I responded he is really coming to express his love of God without thinking of getting something back. He thought that interesting and mentioned to me that he and a friend talked about that very subject a few days back. He is a true man of God. He is humble, kind, and seeks to grow in his love of God and others. It is always very humbling for me to meet those who come here. They teach me a great deal and I find it interesting that some people think that just because I live in a monastery that I am for some reason ‘closer’ to God…..not sure anyone can get ‘closer’ to God than they already are. We just need to believe it and live from that space. I often do not live from that place. Though, as the years pass ever more quickly; I find that grace is slowly and patiently bringing me to that place of ‘rest’. I am here because I am weaker than others, more fragmented, and this is a healing place for me. It is for others who come here for retreat or just to pray, a place where they can heal as well. They have no idea what they do for us. People come here, all religious paths, or none, and pray, rest, walk around and some share with us. It is they who make this place hollowed ground, these blessed children of God who bless us with their presence, love and at times friendship. It is not always easy knowing the monks, for when they come close they experience our humanity, our struggles and yes failures. Yet they do remain friends, true friends. Not much that is better than that, if anything.

I do agree, growth need not be slow, yet it often is.....God is patient with me ;-). Peace Mark

Growth is slow, it is pain that can alert us to grow in humility and truth. Peace Mark

Maybe having the King James bible tattooed on your forehead would be a good idea.