six monks

Yesterday I saw six monks on the side of the road (no, this is not the beginning of a joke, I really did see them.) They were in a conversation with a VDOT worker. I assume they were going to be picking up litter along the roadside as a way of getting out of the cloister and serving the community. A part of me admires persons who commit their whole lives to God’s service as do the monks. I admire their longing to know God and their contemplative spirit in seeking to commune with God. But as I watched them in their straw hats and long brown robes—in 92 degree heat!—I thought how odd they looked. A part of me thought how quaint, how old-fashioned, how out of step with current reality. Then I wondered how many people today think of the church the same way.