107 | What I’m Reading: Domestic Monastery

“Prayer is like eating. There needs to be a good rhythm between big banquets (high celebration, high aesthetics, lots of time, proper formality) and the everyday family supper (simple, no-frills, short, predictable).” This idea is one of many nuggets of wisdom I gleaned from Ronald Rolheiser’s beautiful little book: Domestic Monastery.⁣

Once in awhile, I’ll share something I’m reading and what I’m learning. ⁣Domestic Monastery was recommended by a friend in a cohort I’m part of from a course I did called “Creating a Rule of Life” by Sacred Ordinary Days. There is so much grace and permission in this book as Rolheiser guides the reader in seeing the holiness present in daily domestic life and the realistic opportunities to be attentive to God in the rhythms of ordinary life.⁣

⁣Back to “prayer is like eating” . . .⁣

⁣Even though I advocate for a more expansive understanding and practice of prayer, at times i catch myself burdening prayer with “shoulds.” I should be praying everyday. It should like this or that. I should have a certain attitude or mindset when I pray. I should, I should, I should.⁣

⁣Rolheiser writes, “A family that tries to eat every meal as if it were a banquet soon finds that most of its members are looking for an excuse to be absent. With good reason. Everybody needs to eat every day, but nobody has energy for a banquet every day. The same holds true for prayer.”⁣

There is grace in having the “freedom to be as present or absent (in terms of emotional investment) as [our] energy and heart [allow] on a given day (p. 43).”⁣

⁣There was so much to reflect on from this book. It is short and easy to read a chapter from time to time as a devotional. His conversations about the monastic bell, friendship, parenting, and service in the world were particularly apt for my current season of life.⁣

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📚 What are you reading? What are you learning from what you’re reading?⁣