drove to Chicago

[mushfromnewsies]

So instead of doing anything, say, productive or responsible, since finals week has begun, I'm going to hang out on LJ and picspam. (Note: "picspam" is both a noun and a verb, yes? It is now.)

On Friday, after I "finished" my term paper for Ancient Christianity, which is probably the worst paper I've ever written and was written over two

Comments

[frey_at_last]

This is deeply disappointing. Nuns are not as cool as monks. I want to live with the monks.

Isn't it just so true. Freud would diagnose us with tonsure-envy.

[josparke]

What about the flying Nun? Flying is cool.

[daysprings]

Oh, but there are some awesome communities of nuns!

Great post and pictures. I've been dying to go on a monastery retreat. It's one of those "to do before the baby comes" goals that I think I'm not going to make. Someday, though!

[mushfromnewsies]

Well, sure, all the nuns I've met are great. All the monks and nuns I've talked to have been the happiest people I've ever met. It's just that monks fit the picture so much better. The idea pleases me more. And I freely admit that I like boys better than girls, especially good boys that are monks. ;)

I really want to find another time to go for much longer. It was so easy to find myself at peace. Happiness was so much easier there. Everything was focused on hope and prayer and good things.

[daysprings]

Yeah, I know what you mean. My first real college crush was on a boy who turned out to have The Call. He's now a Dominican friar. ;)

[mushfromnewsies]

haha, and well, I was thinking about it. And I don't want it to sound sexual and thus disrespectful. But the idea of being around only women puts me off. The idea of only men is also somewhat odd, but if I were there, I'd be balancing something, somewhere. I just know I feel more comfortable and secure in my identity around [good] men. And the idea of monks is so... monk-like.

Somewhat related to this, I was thinking while eating in the cloistered dining room about what the purpose of the cloister was, anymore. Surely they trusted their monks to obey their vows and not run off and indulge their lusts so carelessly, were virtuous women to live with them. But I realized -- it's probably more likely (or dangerous) that they'd fall in love, than actually be physical. I think that's different from ancient or medieval fears for their cloistered celibates, although it's probably difficult to tease out the difference between lust and love back then. All speculation.

[josparke]

Very nice, I've been thinking about going to be a guest at the "Christ in the Desert" Monastary.