 By Diane Pate
Recently my husband and I visited Alaska. Since one of our stops was Skagway, a friend asked me to look up the little church where her brother had pastored for thirteen years. It was a beautiful sunny day and the church was easy to find. After all, Skagway had only three or four main streets. The location was stunning. Everything was green and the town was surrounded by spectacular mountains. Kids were riding bikes on the streets and children were playing in one yard we passed. It seemed idyllic and we felt envious of this pastor. It was only after exploring the town and talking to locals, that we came to realize that sunny days were an exception. It was dark, stormy and cold most of the year. There was only one small, very expensive market and the town was extremely isolated. How did this man and his family remain for thirteen years? As my friend has talked about her brother over the years, one thing I have noticed about him is that he has said yes to the invitation to a shared life with others. This is one of the great lessons we can learn from monastic communities as well. Monks who enter a monastery take a vow of stability that grounds them in certain places for life. While most of us are not called to remain in one space for life, we all would do well to follow the spiritual practice of a commitment to stability. Contemplative life is not a solo enterprise. In a commitment to stability, we withstand the disturbances and annoyances of others for the sake of union with God and union with each other. For some of us, this may well mean a deep rootedness to one place and community. This commitment to stability is no easy task. Choosing to remain for the long haul in our transient culture can be a modern-day miracle, as in the case of this Alaskan paster. But we all are called to remain connected with others, especially in moments of conflict, tension and anxiety. In the contemplative practice of spiritual direction, the goal is beholding, but not only a beholding of God; we also need to be beholding each other. In light of this spiritual practice of commitment to stability where do you sense God’s invitation? How have you practiced stability in the past? How has it affected your life? Comments are closed.
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