Monasticism Everywhere--or rather the New Friar Movement
Terry sent me this link on a post over at Prodigal Kiwi. Relevant Magazine also ran this article in their weekly email. I followed the link to the InterVarsity book, The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World's Poor. It looks good, I may order it and give it a read. It may be that "New Friar Movement" more accurately describes what interests me. From Terry I've understood that (in a simple definition) a Friar is a Monk who takes the vows but engages the outside culture of the world (working and serving) for the sake of Christ and others.

What attracts me to the monastic way is a community's (sometimes radical) commitment to a way of life and being. So much of Christianity has become a "do-it-yourself" religion where real community is something that we attempt to tack onto our solitary lives. What excites me about the "new monasticism" especially is the centering of that communal commitment around serving those in need outside the "monastic" community itself. I know that such commitments have been a part of certain monastic orders for centuries, but in the common knowledge monasticism tends to lead people to thoughts of seclusion and complete abandonment of the world. The model that Jesus lived (and what is desperately needed among Christians) is an abandonment of the world's values combined with a passionate love for others.

It seems that the new monastic movement is taking steps at being communities doing just that.

posted by Jimmy at 11:16 AM | |