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36. One Think At A Time

I hope it's as obvious to you as it is to me that one cannot think two thoughts at the same time. We are playing in a linear universe and that's that. If you are thinking something nice you can't think of something not nice at the same time. If you think sad thoughts you can't think happy thoughts at the same time.

I stayed overnight at a self-sufficient Benedictine monastery once. They were, and still are, Contemplatives who work very hard (selling high-class jellies and jams). Contemplatives don't speak, keep their communications to an absolute minimum and restrict even that to minimal gestures. They treasure their vow of silence but the Rule of St. Benedict mandates that the monks be hospitable to visitors and so one was assigned to speak with us. He showed us their well-groomed fields and immaculate kitchens and took us through their graveyard. He pointed to some roughed-up earth where, he said, a monk was buried. There was no stone. He said the dead monk was the greatly beloved former abbot. "Where's his marker?" and, "Don't you miss him?" jumped out of my mouth in the same sentence.

Our tour guide (very) gently explained that the abbot's presence was felt profoundly every day but that they just hadn't gotten around to carving a stone. Now I was really curious and popped up with, "Who will carve the stone and who carved the coffin?" He said they had no stone-carver but a stone was coming from another monastery. He said there was no coffin as monks were just wrapped in a sheet and "returned to the earth" when they died.

Later that evening (after a Spartan meal of bread and soup) our guide had a short Q and A with us. I tried to compliment him on his very austere life style but he would have none of it. He said, "I admire you with your family responsibilities and working 'in the world' every day."

The good feeling that emanates from St. Joseph's Abbey in Spencer, MA is so palpable that you sense it just by driving by. I recommend that you make the effort and visit some time. There you will see, as I did, the rewards of keeping your mind occupied with good things and keeping your spirit focused on God.

I'm not moralizing. This linear universe is just a technical fact. If you can only hold one thought at a time and that thought is correct then, for that moment, your life becomes correct, i.e., happy. If you keep stringing correct thoughts together then your life becomes happy for as long as you do it.

Where's the down side to this situation?

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