For 9/11 2006
Monday, September 11, 2006
Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, And forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:30 PM 0 comments
Labels: General Reflections, Scripture Reflections
Are Monks Christians?
When I say "monk," I think most people would imagine one of the two images above. If you call yourself a Christian, then you might even add on the third guy in the long robe.
Many Christians (especially evangelicals) I talk to today consider monasticism a waste; even an unbiblical practice. I find this unfortunate, considering the incredible weight of evidence for its practice in the New and Old Testament and the history of the Christian church. The pattern is set by Moses, the people of Israel, Elijah, John the Baptist, Jesus of Nazareth, Paul of Tarsus, and many others in Scripture, not to mention the Desert Fathers and the thousands of men and women who followed in their footsteps even to this day.
The question of the "wastefulness" or "practicality" of the monastic or ascetic life is an important one that I would love to discuss in another post soon, but for now, the issue of Scripture - is it biblical? Sound arguments can be made (and have been made by myself on occasion) for finding fault in current or ancient forms and practices, but I maintain that the practice in principle is good, sound, and alligned with Scripture.
To start, an interesting theme throughout the Scriptures is the period of 40 days or years. This period of time occurs frequently throughout the text and refers to a long period of time in a wilderness or isolated area, usual with special significance in the plan of God. It is also often accompanied by some form of denial, whether that be fasting, a strict diet, or other physical constraints. Below is a preliminary (incomplete) outline I've done of these events in scripture. Notice the common themes of wilderness, solitude, fasting, interaction with angels, and closeness to the presence of God. After this list I have included some comments/questions on its relation to monasticism through the ages and new monasticism.
GEN 7:12 Rain falls for 40 days and 40 nights as Noah and his family escape into the ark.
EX 3:2; ACTS 7:30 Moses flees Egypt into the wilderness of Midian. He lives there for 40 years before the Lord appears to him on the back side of the wilderness at Mount Horeb in a burning bush.
EX 16:35 The Israelites eat manna in the wilderness for 40 years as they wander in the desert according to the command of God led by the cloud and pillar of fire.
EX 24:18 The glory of the Lord rests on Mount Sinai and God calls Moses to come up the mountain alone. The glory of the Lord appears as a consuming fire, and Moses enters the cloud for 40 days and 40 nights.
EX 34:28 After renewing His commitment to Israel after their disobedience of worshipping the golden calf, the Lord calls Moses again up the mountain for 40 days and 40 nights where He reveals his glory to Moses and gives him the ten commandments on the stone tablets. During this time Moses neither eats nor drinks. When Moses comes down the mountain, the skin on his face shines because of his conversation with God (34:29) and he must put a veil over it to speak with the people.
NUM 32:13 The Lord sends the Israelites back into the wilderness for 40 years of wandering and relying on God for manna that He might humble them and test them and find out what was in their heart (DT 8:2). Their feet did not swell, and their sandals and clothing did not wear out all those 40 years (DT 8:4, 29:5).
1 KING 19:8 Elijah flees from Jezebel into the wilderness and prays in desperation for the Lord to take his life. The angel of the Lord appears to him and gives him a bread cake and jar of water that sustains him for 40 days and 40 nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
MATT 4:2; MK 1:13; LK 4:2 After Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist, He goes into the wilderness for 40 days and fasts. During this time of temptation the angels minister to Him.
GAL 1:17 It appears that even Saul/Paul, after his conversion and baptism fled to Arabia for a time in the wilderness.
There is something here, ^ and I am going to attempt to found out what it is, and what it requires of me.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 2:07 PM 0 comments
Labels: General Reflections, Scripture Reflections
Cliffs of Moher
The Cliffs of Moher were once another desolate location on Irelands rocky west coast, but sadly, it has been taken over by tourism. To reach the point from where I took this photo, I had to pass through a sprawling parking lot full of tour coaches, a bustling tourist shop and cafe, a huge construction site where a new visitor's center was being built, and past a constant stream of thousands of tourists per day walking along a paved and walled path along the edge. It was grand to see, but the irony of the tourism boom took quite an edge off of the wonder these massive cliffs plunging into the ocean.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 1:20 PM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
Skellig Michael
The Skellig Islands are a group of huge craggy rocks located 12km off the southwestern tip of Ireland; the edge of the known world in the 7th Century. The largest of the three islands is called Skellig Michael, which is the Irish name for The Rock of St. Michael, who the island was dedicated to. To the inhabitants of Ireland at the time, the horizon of the Atlantic Ocean was the edge of Christendom and the world, so this rocky peak would be the meeting place between heaven and earth. Michael is the Christian saint who carries the souls of the worthy to heaven, making this rock was the perfect location to be dedicated to him.
Around 600 BC, a group of early Christians, inspired by the Desert Fathers, were seeking a place of solitude to start a monastic lifestyle and came to Skellig Michael as literally the most desolate and isolated site in Europe. In a primitive boat they made their way to the cliffs, risking certain death from the pounding surf against the rocks, and climbed the 715ft. rock peak to start their life of prayer on a small level area at the top of the island. The 12-15 inhabitants would have combatted fierce Atlantic storms, severe isolation, and numerous Viking attacks over the 600 years the site was in use, surviving on rainwater cisterns, whatever fish or birds they could catch, and a small vegetable garden they kept on top of the cliffs.
I had the rare and spectacular opportunity to hitch a ride on a lobster boat out to the island and climb to the top where I spent two hours at the monastic settlement. I was amazed at how intact the area was, so much so that it seemed the monks had been living their primitive lifestyle there up until the day I arrived. The place was so untouched I half expected meal leftovers to be in the stone huts when I entered.
The furthest I have ever been from civilization was a three day silent retreat on a mountain in Big Sur, California; but nothing could prepare me for even two hours imagining the resolve, faith, desperation, pain, and God knows whatever else it took to drive these men to the edge of the world away from all comfort and security. There have been a few times in my life when in desperation I have been ready to leave the "world" behind and flee to the wilderness in solitide. Whereas my response was usually out of a lack of courage or vision, these men possessed these qualities in a spectacular measure that is seldom seen in these days.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:22 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
More Pictures from Skellig Michael
This point stretches 300 feet up from the narrow passage the stone stairway follows.
Over 600 stairs lead precariously up from the origional boat landing site 715 feet up to the monastary. Each step was hand constructed by carrying slate stone found from around the rock faces and stacking them without mortar. The steps were so well constructed and so tightly fitted that every stair is still intact today.
A small cemetary fills some of the scarce flat area where the brothers were burried.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:06 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
The Western Shore
The southern edge of the Kerry Peninsula.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:05 AM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
Western Ireland Day 1 and 2
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Wednesday night we started the trip down to Kilkenny from Dublin where we stayed in a hostel and then toured Muckross House, a fantastic mansion sprawled on a picturesque lake in the mountains. Asal's favorite part was the 4 ton billiards table carved from a walnut tree.
We also visited an ancient fort built entirely out of free-stacked stones (no mortar at all). Pretty impressive to see it now, considering the place was "in ruins" long before anyone had every heard of North America.
That night we checked into a smart new hostel in Portmagee on the far southwestern shore, a small fishing villiage. Mike and I hung out for the evening in the "Moorings," one of three local pubs where evening socializing takes place. We shared a fun evening with Allison and Steve, a British couple from London who were on holiday. Good food, good drink, and good company.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:56 PM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
Exploring the Wild West (of Ireland)
A quick post to update on where I've been, a more detailed story to come. I got back yesterday from a four day, whirlwind tour of the western parts of Ireland. The west is generally more "traditional" and "old-fashioned" than the hip eastern shore; also the home of Irelands hills, cliffs, and endless tour coaches full of rowdy German tourists. The following posts will detail specific stops along the way.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 6:41 PM 0 comments
Labels: Ireland
Ireland Day 1 and 2
Saturday, September 02, 2006
I finally made it to Ireland Friday morning and was gratefull to be met my Mike's parents, and aunt and uncle who proceeded to whisk me off directly to their favorite fish and chips place on the coast north of Dublin. After having my fill and more, we landed at 7 Corbawn Grove, Shankill, County Dublin, Ireland - their home. I slept like a baby.
The next day I was picked up my Mike's brother and sister in law, Matt and Hailey, and their two wonderful kids for my first Irish Fete. A fete is basically a giant yard sale that the entire town comes out to for the purpose of swapping junk around, plus all the small rides and food booths of a carnival, plus a gymnasium full of baked goods and happy ladies in the biggest bake sale I've ever seen (including the best banana-walnut bread I've ever purchased for 1 euro.), all sponsored by a local church, for the purpose of raising money for a school. It all sounds rather confusing, but when visited in person it is simply delightful. It was almost a dream come true for me - two of my favorite things in the world: cheap junk and baked goods!
There was one thing at the fete that really threw me off. They had a local band playing music for the fete which could be heard far beyond the limits of the church grounds. I got out of the car a couple blocks away and was startled and confused to hear not traditional Irish music beckoning me, but downright Dixieland Jazz blaring out from a quintet on the stage! And they were downright good, too! I guess it was a tribute to the globalism and multiculturalism that has overtaken much of this small nation by storm over the past decade. All in all, it was very disorienting on my first day of exploring Irish culture to have my foot tapping to a soaring trombone improvosation over a Duke Ellington-esque jam.
It was at this most unusual, and most enjoyable church/circus/garage sale that I made my first lasting friend in Ireland, and I'd like to introduce him to you, because he will probably be showing up in a lot of pictures after this. 
His name is Asal. (Donkey in Irish.) I found him while rummaging through the bottom of a bin in the 'Toys' tent at the fete. He's one of those genius German made wooden toys. As you press up on a spring-loaded disk on the bottom of the base, the strings running through his body can be controlled, almost like a puppet. Basically, this donkey can dance!
That's all for now, I've got to run to a 21st birthday party for a girl at "The Goat" pub in Goatstown. Check back later!
Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:58 PM 4 comments
Labels: Ireland
Journey Log 3 - East Coast Adventures
I arrived on the Empire Builder into Penn Station, New York, only 3 hours late! I hopped on a bus and was picked up in Jersey by 8pm by my good friend Charles Taylor who put me up most hospitably for the night. After my first night's sleep in a bed in over 5 nights, we awoke early and drove to the airport where I took off for Philadelphia. What I failed to realize before was that the numbers 11:30am and 8:30pm meant that I had almost a 9 hour layover in Philly! To make the most of the time I caught the train to downtown and had a grand old time seeing Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell (strangely, after watching American Treasure the night before) and visiting Christ Church, where our nation's first two presidents and many other officials went church every Sunday.
When I returned to the airport to get on my flight to Dublin, I heard an announcemenet over the intercom that they were overbooked and were asking for some volunteers to take a later flight to Dublin. At this I jumped up and ran to to counter, realizing that I had probably the most flexible schedule of anyone in that terminal, and also remembering that people had sometimes recieved good compensation for this act of charity. Good compensation, I found out, was to the tune of a free round-trip ticket to and from anywhere the airline flies, anytime in the next year! Woohoo!!! I still haven't decided where I'll go yet.
The delay and detour also got me a stopover in Glasgow, and a stamp in my passport from Scotland. Woohoo 2!!!
Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:48 PM 0 comments
Journey Log 2 - Wheaton
I had a fantastic time for 48 hours in Wheaton. I stayed with some of my old suite-mates and saw generally a whole lot of people, more than I could have hoped. By the end of the first day I wasn't tired of telling why I was there, but my body was exhausted from interacting with so many people in so short a time. Thanks to all of you who stopped to chat and apologies for those I didn't run into! The entirely new Fischer dorm looks great, Saint and Elliot are now a field of dirt, and Bon Appettit is still serving the best food ever. Ahhh...all is right in that part of the world.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:43 PM 0 comments
Labels: Wheaton
Journey Log 1 - Train
It was long.
65 hours long, but worth it. On Amtrak's Empire Builder train, I got to see the whole country almost from shore to shore; every inch minus the ones that passed while my eyes were closed. I slept very fitfully my first night, but awoke to a gloriously mellow sunrise in the Rocky Mountains over a fog-shrouded valley. As the sun rose higher, so did the mountains as we cruised effortlessly through Glacier National Park in Northern Montana. That morning I sat in the sightseer car observing crystal clear, aqua blue mountain streams flowing along next to the tracks, spotting a mountain goat here and there.
A nice looking gentleman sat beside me, and, temporarily forgetting not to judge a book by its cover, I thought to myself, "this guy HAS to be a British professor." After I greeted him and he responded "You can call me Richard" in a very stong British accent, I knew I was on to something. The conversation came round and I asked where he was headed. He responded, "Oh, I'm just about to start a three year professorship at Cambridge University." Am I good, or am I good. After I found out he was teaching Biochemistry, I swallowed hard and then proceeded to have a brilliant and eye-opening conversation about the human immune system and the latest research. Fascinating, really.
The next 24 hours were filled with the golden, yet bottomless wasteland of Northern Montana, North Dakota, and Western Minnesota. There isn't anything there. I'm serious.
After a long stop in St. Paul, I hit Wheaton, which will be covered in the next post.
Posted by Benjamin Washam 7:06 PM 0 comments
