(2) New Monk

To this day, I cannot pin down exactly "why" I decided that I wanted

to become a monk.  It just seemed a path that I was walking and 

I had arrived.  Weird, maybe--or, put in old fashioned terms, that

the Spirit led me and I, fortunately, had the good sense to follow.

So when the new monastery was nearly ready for occupancy

I approached Brother Philip (who had just become the Rector)

and talked to him about joining the community as a monk.  I

had concerns that I wouldn't be accepted, because I was still

a little confused as to the "why" I wanted to become a monk.

On the other hand Philip noticed my determination.  Anyway, 

to make a long story short, the Rector put it to the new 

congregation that had finally begun moving into their new

monastic quarters.  And they "approved" of me.  I guess all

those months of friendly chats with the San Ysidro squatters

helped me along my way.

So, by the end of that summer, I entered into the Novitiate of the

Millennial Monastery California.

There were only four of us novices or postulants as the monks

preferred calling us.  After settling into the brand new novice

quarters, before our training and classes began, I had time to

reflect as well as look around.

First I was grateful to my architectural firm where I had worked for

three years.  The management was surprised but fascinated by

my decision to become a monk.  However, as they put it--"If you

ever change your mind, you will have a position here."  That was

really nice of them.

I thought about my family as well.  My parents and my siblings

took my decision in stride as they shook their heads in bemused

bewilderment.  They asked if they could come and visit me at 

the monastery eventually.  Of course I knew they not only might

want to see me, but see *who* these people are who roped me

into the monastic life.  Eventually they did make the long trek to

the San Ysidro Mountains, but not until I was finished with my

year-long novitiate.

Looking around, too, I noticed that some new monastic faces

were now walking around the monastery.  They volunteered

to transfer to California from their monastic house in Arizona.

For the first time I saw some female monks at San Ysidro.

Later I found them to be an interesting lot, some working as

health professionals as well as theologians.

But in short order our training began, beginning with a basic 

overview of what it meant to be a monk at the Millennial

Monastery.  The Novice Master, Brother Michael, talked

about their non-traditional monastic approach, about the

ceremonial roles of the monks, about the Benedictine

Tradition, which I had already discussed lots with the

squatters and Brother Philip when I was viewing the

monastery under construction.  So by this time I wasn't

too shocked about the non-traditional approach "Seeking

God" or trying better to relate spiritually with what some would

call "Ultimate Reality" via our modern knowledge-base.

What did surprise me was the fact that some monks, out of

necessity, occasionally lived outside the monastery for long

periods of time.  This was mainly because of their chosen

work.  Sometimes it was just too far to commute, or perhaps

they had to travel when it came to their "outside" occupation.

In this case, they kept in constant touch via advanced 

communications and occasional return visits to the monastery.

We were also astounded by how much the monastery relied on

advanced computer technology.  Every monk had high

performance computers and communication viewers in their 

respective study and office.  The Novice Master laughingly

put it, "this shouldn't be surprising, when you think back on

medieval monastic history with its scriptoriums--or even into

modern times, when monks started becoming WebMasters

as a way to support their monasteries financially.

Our classes were held in the new buildings out in the gardens.

Once in awhile I dared to take my mind off the Book of Common

Prayer or St. Benedict's Rule and gaze out onto the gardens.

Though I helped in the planning of these gardens, most of the

work was done by a landscaper who lived not far from the

San Ysidro Mountains.  Kind of daydreaming, I thought that

he was a good man to know when it came to my future projects.

That thought really woke me up, so to speak.  Later in my room

I realized that in spite of being a novice monastic, I still very much

thought of myself as an architect.  At that point I started to wonder

how I might engage in this earlier profession when the time came

when I became a full-fledged monk.  But my mind shifted again,

towards my preliminary profession as a Millennial monk.

My novice year swept by fast.  Not surprising I suppose, since I

was learning almost totally new bites of information that had 

never passed my mind before.

Though I had been an Episcopalian, I never knew much about

the Book of Common Prayer--which was the "backbone" of the

Anglican Communion.  When I did go to church, we just read

from pre-printed sheets when it came to participating in the

Sunday service.  At that time I didn't even realize that the words

on those sheets came from the Book of Common Prayer.  All

those years of church schooling, going to chapel as a kid,

some of the "obvious" never made a dent.

However, at the monastery I began to develop such a devotion

towards this great Book.  We monks, of course, are much into 

the Psalms that we followed via the Book. I loved as well the

wonderful prayers, for all seasons, for all occasions, available

in the Book.