Monks Have Secrets

Monks have secrets worth knowing, though sometimes the value of a certain secret isn’t immediately evident.

One such secret concerns the monk’s cell and the importance that classical spiritual writers attached to a monk staying inside his cell. For instance, Abba Moses, one of the great Desert fathers, would counsel his monks: “Go, sit in your cell, and your cell will teach you everything.” Other Desert fathers coined lines like: “Go, eat, drink, sleep, do no work, only do not leave your cell.” Or, “Don’t pray at all, just stay in your cell.” Thomas a Kempis, in The Imitation of Christ, famously wrote: “Every time you leave your cell, you come back less a man.”

Advice like this will probably strike us as unbalanced, unhealthily monastic, unhealthily ascetical, unhealthily other-worldly, or as simply unhealthy. At very least, it will strike us as having little or nothing to do with our own normal, busy, involved, red-blooded lives. What can advice like that possibly offer us? Aren’t we supposed to be in community with others?

Our “cell” is another word for our primary set of responsibilities, for our duties of state, for due diligence and fidelity inside of our vocations, relationships, marriages, families, churches, and communities. To “leave one’s cell” is to neglect our responsibilities or to be unfaithful. To let “our cell teach us everything” is to have faith that if we remain faithful inside of our moral values and our proper commitments then virtue and fidelity will themselves teach us what we need to know to come to maturity and sanctity.

—Father Ron Rolheiser¹

Staying In Our Cells

Hello Heartlifters!

I am excited to bring you this week's conversation with Rev. Chris Lee, vicar of St. Saviour’s in London and author of Know You Are Beloved: Press Pause, Breathe Deeply, and Be Known By God.² We had a lot of fun and talked about some pretty important topics:

1. Being secure in our identity and worth.

2. Developing a deeper intimacy with God and our faith.

3. Knowing our “belovedness” in God.

4. Valuing the power of community.

5. Understanding what a mystical relationship with God is all about.

6. Learning from the Desert Monks, particularly the aspect of “staying in our cells.”

This Week’s Question

One of the most inspiring question he asks, “When was the last time you took a deep breath and pondered how God delights in you?”

I knew the exact moment—holding the newest grand bird, June Noelle.

The last 2.5 years have brought Rob and me an unexpected, glorious, treasured bundle of grandbabies—Elena, Isaac, Eva, Peter, and June.

Each time I hold them close to my heart, I take a deep breath and gaze into their innocence.

Fresh from Heaven, they make me feel very close to Creator God.

I have a million feelings and thoughts, the loudest of which is the deep, unconditional love I feel for each of them.

I can’t help but wonder, “Is this how God feels about me?”

Our “monk’s cell” then is our marriage, home, nexus of relationships, work, private set of burdens and tensions, truth, virtue, and personal integrity. The day’s duties are “your cell.” The spiritual task is to remain inside of that, to let them teach you, to let them be a form of prayer, to not flirt with what’s outside of them, and to make fidelity to them your vocation. Stay inside your cell!
—Father Ron Rolheiser

Remember Your Belovedness

For most of my life, I have equated my value, worth, and dignity with how I perform in life—in the shape of applause, accolades, and acceptance. I got lost somewhere along my journey and began performing in order to feel loved. It took many forms, but mostly looked like overworking and striving.

I forgot my belovedness.

But, as Rev. Chris reminds us, “I believe that God knows all of us, that he knew us before the beginning of time; that he knit each of us together in our mother’s womb and he has a calling and purpose for every one of us. One of the things that gets lost when we think about calling or purpose is that you are more important than your calling, and your value is not determined by whether you succeed, fulfil or even find your calling. There are signposts to your calling in life—things that give you joy, things that give you life—but just remember, you have more value than the purpose that is set for you.”

When I last held June Noelle and gazed at her newborn loveliness, I had absolutely no expectations other than her belovedness as my granddaughter.

Beloved defined, “greatly loved; dear to the heart.”
https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/beloved

I also felt a deep sense that nothing in the world was more important in that moment than holding and loving her.

In this “cell,”

I forgot about social media.

I forgot about my next big project.

I forgot about anything outside that moment—outside “that cell.”

I remembered my value is in my “being,” not my “doing.”

And that felt so good.

That must be what the Desert Monks meant when they encouraged us to “stay inside our cells.”

As Father Rolheiser so wisely puts it, “To let ‘our cell teach us everything’ is to have faith that if we remain faithful inside of our moral values and our proper commitments then virtue and fidelity will themselves teach us what we need to know to come to maturity and sanctity.”

1. https://ronrolheiser.com/the-secret-of-a-monks-cell

2

LEE, R. C. (2020a). OMG effect: 60-second sermons to live a fuller life. CENTURY.