I confess that I\u2019m at Conception Abbey for a bit of solitude until Thursday. I confess that the abbey is one of my favorite places on the planet. As a part of my spiritual rule of life, I typically spend around 25 days a year up here. I confess that I miss my family terribly for the first 12-24 hours. Then I can actually give myself to the solitude. I confess that I once went 48 hours w\/out speaking here. I confess that this will not happen this time.<\/p>\n
I confess that this is the first time I\u2019ve decided to blog while at the abbey. I confess that I\u2019m not sure that this should be allowed. Doesn\u2019t it break the spirit of a private spiritual retreat? Praying with the monks and blogging? It\u2019s a little weird. I confess that I\u2019m going to give myself a pass on this one and try to keep my posts limited to the topic at hand: retreat and prayer.<\/p>\n
I confess that I was well into my late twenties before someone pointed out to me that my prayers (despite my ACTS training\u2026 adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication), were mostly about asking God to do stuff I wanted God to do. <\/p>\n
I confess that I\u2019m staying in the new guest house at the abbey which is nice like a brand new hotel. I\u2019m a little thrown off because I\u2019m used to the old dorms which are a bit more austere. I\u2019m not complaining. I can control my own room temp\u2026 <\/p>\n
I confess that I pray better when I am walking or singing (chanting). I confess that the sound of the psalms being chanted does something crazy to my soul. <\/p>\n
I confess that last night\u2019s \u201cThe Newsroom\u201d was my favorite episode thus far. Sorkin\u2019s deconstruction of the media is genius. I confess that I think all of the Kansas references owe to the fact that Alex Graves is from here. I confess that I think last night\u2019s slam on Manhattan, KS owes to the fact that Graves went to KU. <\/p>\n
I confess that 1:05 prayer is perhaps my favorite office. It\u2019s the most subdued, no instruments, and it\u2019s almost always from ps. 119.<\/p>\n
I confess that as an evangelical Protestant, I am very aware that I still have no idea what to do with the psalms. I feel so inferior to the Anglicans and Catholics on this one. I\u2019ve been praying the psalms daily since 2003, and more recently my rhythm has been taking me through them every 2 months. All I know right now is that they are tethering me to something vast; something I don\u2019t yet understand. So I just keep praying them 3-4 times a day. I have this feeling that they are making my prayers conform to a new pattern \u2013 something like seeking first the kingdom of God \u2013 and making them less about getting God to do stuff.<\/p>\n
I confess that when I pray lament psalms, I learn what it is to intercede for those who are really suffering. My pseudo-suffering is drawn into harsher focus. I have it really, really good.<\/p>\n
Okay, I made my confession\u2026 you make yours!<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I confess that I\u2019m at Conception Abbey for a bit of solitude until Thursday. I confess that the abbey is one of my favorite places on the planet. As a part of my spiritual rule of life, I typically spend around 25 days a year up here. I confess that I miss my family terribly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1118,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-monday-morning-confessional"],"yoast_head":"\n