ora et labora.

i miss this place:

that's the christ of the desert monastery outside of santa fe, new mexico, where i spent a week in may with dr. gloer and a few students from truett. so many things have made me think of that place recently, and it's not that i necessarily want to go back right now -- although at some point i do! -- i think it's just that i miss their way of life. here's an excerpt from my journal on our first day there:

the schedule here is fascinating -- six prayer times each day. i just love how they move straight through the psalms. every prayer time is flooded with scripture and adoration of the trinity. it's such an incredible rhythm of life -- pray, eat, work, pray, eat, rest... repeat. it's so bizarre to me how such structure can be so liberating.

one of the main points of st. benedict's rule (which the monks there live by) is ora et labora, "pray and work." we talked a lot about how the monks' priorities are to pray... and then to work, while in the "real world" our priorities are usually to work... and then to pray if you think about it.

in one of jim denison's daily emails last week, he cited 2 chronicles 31.21, which describes king hezekiah: "in everything that he undertook in the service of god's temple and in obedience to the laws and commands, he sought his god and worked wholeheartedly." denison then wrote, "note the order: first the king sought his god and then he worked wholeheartedly. we can work with fervent passion, but if god is not working through us, nothing we do will be significant." sounds a lot to me like ora et labora.

while i don't live in a monastery and maybe i can't stop to sing and pray and be silent at six set times each day, i think i can live with a similar mindset in my normal, everyday life. i want to seek him above and before all else -- to know him and his desires instead of living by my desires and hoping he's okay with it. i want prayer to be my first response instead of my last resort.

"but seek first the kingdom of god and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." -- matthew 6.33

"you will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." -- jeremiah 29.13