At Companions on the Way, we practice Contemplation in New Monastic community. So, what does this mean?
Based in "Old" Monasticism
Some 300 years after the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the Church had moved from a small, persecuted group of Jesus’ disciples (calling themselves “Followers of the Way”), to a mainstream, national religion under Emperor Constantine (312AD). Some felt that this had made Christianity a watered down version of what Jesus intended, no longer challenging them to live a life different from the culture, but instead allowing them to align with their life with the culture while only professing to live differently. A small number of individuals who felt this way began to leave the larger culture and head to the wilderness deserts, especially those of Egypt, where they believed they could hear God more clearly, away from the distractions and voices of the secular and Church cultures, and rekindle their true connection to God. These became known as the “Early Desert Fathers and Mothers,” and over years many came to learn from these Abbas and Ammas in the desert. This was the beginning of monasticism.
Origins of "New" Monasticism
The term “New Monasticism” is traced back to a quote from Deitrich Bonhoeffer in a letter he wrote to his brother during WWII, about his extreme disappointment in the Church’s response to Naziism, saying, “The restoration of the church will surely come from a sort of new monasticism which has in common with the old only the uncompromising attitude of a life lived according to the Sermon on the Mount in the following of Christ. I believe it is now time to call people to this.” In his book, “The Cost of Discipleship,” he added, “Monastic life thus became a living protest against the secularization of Christianity, against the cheapening of grace….”
New Monasticism Today
Knowingly or unknowingly building on Bonhoeffer’s concept, “New Monastic” communities would begin to form years after his quote. Notably for us: The Iona Community in 1938, The Northumbria Community in 1989, The Simple Way in 1998, and Companions on the Way in 2015. Few New Monastic communities have adopted a literal adherence only to the Sermon on the Mount (though many of our most important and known biblical passages come from it), preferring to continue equal value of all scripture. What has seen common place among New Monastic communities is the other part of Bonhoeffer’s description – “the uncompromising attitude of a life lived… in the following of Christ.” Different from traditional Church, this is not understood to be the following of Christ’s teachings, ideas, or beliefs. It is understood as the literal following of the Christ – God’s Spirit that remains very tangibly in, between, and through us, when we learn to connect with Them.
Contemplation
This, then, is the heart of Contemplation – to learn the skills and engage in the practice of connecting to the Christ in every place, in every moment, with as much depth and clarity as we can. It is a life practice and, as the early desert monks would say, we are always beginners. Yet, as we grow in our capacity for contemplation, God becomes more tangible, and we are more easily guided toward Their will and more able to express the true love of the Christ. At Companions on the Way, we see our dedication to relating like Jesus and the practice of contemplation as inseparable. The moment we engage in contemplation – being present to God everywhere – we are immediately working on our relationships with God, others, and self. And, as we work on our relationship in the world, they are only fully engaged when we include Spirit present in, between, and through us and each one we meet, so deepening relationships will always come to contemplation.
Monkhood
While the word “monk” can make us think of reclusive men in brown robes singing and gardening, the word itself comes from the Greek “monachos,” and means “solitary,” or “single.” As Christine Paintner puts it, “The name referred not to their living status, but instead to their focus.” A monk is simply one who has made a deep and intentional commitment to the contemplative practice of focusing on their connection to God in every moment. Where “old” monastic monks tended to either be hermits, or live in cloistered communities, “new” monastics embrace what Fr. Wayne Teasdale calls being a “Monk in the world.” As long as the monastic focus remains, one can have a job, have a partner or children, live with non-monastics, etc., and still be a monk – albeit each of these comes with its own challenges, as well as blessing, for monastic living. One can engage in contemplative practices, without going so far as to pattern their whole life as a monk/contemplative. A new monastic community, then, is a community of those who are committed to engaging in and supporting one another’s efforts at contemplative practices, whether they identify as a monk, contemplative, or simply as someone drawn to contemplation. At Companions on the Way, our community focuses this contemplative work towards God’s presence in the relationships we engage in each day, with God, others, and self.