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November 26, 2008

The Present Moment

By: Br. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR

There was a zealous young monk who entered a monastery intending to devote his whole life to God in prayer and silence. The monastery he entered was known for its austere way of life and its strict regimen of prayer. However, when the monks were not “praying” in the church or privately in their cells, they were assigned various jobs to help with the upkeep of the monastery. Every morning after Mass the novice master would assign the young monk jobs such as cutting the grass, planting vegetables and flowers in the garden, cooking and cleaning the church.
After a few weeks this young monk became infuriated. He complained interiorly about the “excessive” amount of work he was involved in and reminded himself over and over again that he came to the monastery to devote his whole life to prayer and not to manual labor. He imagined other monasteries tucked nicely on a mountain somewhere where there would be no intrusions upon his life of prayer.

Shortly after, the young monk approached the novice master and rattled off his list of complaints. Finally, hoping to sum up everything, the young monk said, “I came here to devote my life to prayer – not to work!” The novice master, who was patiently listening to him replied, “Well, what have you been doing these past couple of months while you were working? I knew of your desire for prayer, so I gave you the quietest jobs to help foster your prayer life.”

Oftentimes we don’t look for God exactly where He is – in the present moment. Rather, like the young monk, we imagine a life where everything is perfect or one that must conform to the ideas we often stubbornly hold on to. Therefore, everything and everybody becomes obstacles to God, love, happiness, etc. Since this person cannot accept reality and people as they really are, this person will spend their whole life running until eventually they will collapse somewhere and most likely be all alone.


God does not need the “ideal” setting to come into our lives. All He needs is our invitation. With this attitude of openness to God and to life, there is really no such thing as “distractions.” Although our ideas and preferences are good, God’s are always better and He is primarily concerned with what is really best for us.


Since there is nothing that passes by Him unnoticed, there should be nothing in our life, despite how annoying and burdensome something may appear, that prevents us from seeking God and sharing our lives with Him. Therefore, let us meet God where He is, here in the present moment, whether we are happy, annoyed, scared, joyful, tired, etc. Let us turn to Him however we may feel and in whatever situation we find ourselves right now. After all, that is where God is.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

God the Father looks oddly similar to Russian Orthodoxy's St. Seraphim of Sarov.

SVA V-Team said...

There is somewhat of a resemblance but notice the triangle (representing the Holy Trinity). Most haloes are circular, but they come in other shapes as well. A triangular halo is used only for God the father, representing, of course, the trinity. This painting was done in 1489 by ANTONIAZZO ROMANO, and is entitled "Annunciazione" you can find this beautiful painting in the church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, Rome. I will post the full painting so you can see it in full. Pax, thanks for commenting.

Anonymous said...

Br. Gabriel,

You are correct. I was referring to the countenance alone as resembling St. Seraphim of Sarov. In a way, it looks like Fr. Damian, SVA's Porter (but with lots of hair), as well.

Pax!

SVA V-Team said...

Wow, now there is a lot of holiness there, God the Father of all things holy, St. Seraphim, and our own Father Damian, praise the Lord!!! Again, thanks for commenting anonymous, we love having discerners checking out the blog and engaging in conversation on here. Be assured of my continued prayers for you!!!

Pax et Gaudium

O.S.B. Vocation Awareness

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