Folks often ask me why I, a failed missional church planter who lives in a single family home in the exurbs with a low likelihood of moving into multifamily housing any time soon, is so profoundly struck by monasticism, both old and new. I usually can’t answer the question in any other way than by saying, “I’m not sure yet, but I trust that God’s in this and as a good pilgrim, I can only choose to follow.”
God is up to something for certain. There are too many people looking at intentional community and new monasticism for this to be a coincidence; the Spirit of God is at work. Perhaps it is because, in any moment in history in which we’ve had strong Empire, monasticism arose as a counterbalance. Perhaps it is because in the West we have easy-beliefism and a deep loss of community. Where I fit into this, only time will tell.
Or maybe there is something more critical at hand. Consider this possibility, written by Poser or Prophet:
Not that I know anything about this stuff, but I reckon that, if the global markets were to crash and we were to be heading for some sort of Great Depression at some point in the future then… well… then it makes sense for the Spirit to begin stirring now-ish in order to create communities of Christians who are learning how to share the basic elements of life, who are economically dependent upon one another, who are making connections across national boundaries, and who are trying to bridge the gap between the West and the Rest of the world.
A possibility, indeed. In any case, God is at hand.
Oh, and thanks as usual to my friend Eliacín Rosario-Cruz, who shared another item from this blog on his Google Reader shared items feed. I love Google Reader shared items…
pat loughery 
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