For the Carmelite nun, the words “monastery” and “cloister” are not as descriptive of her new dwelling place as the word, “Carmel.” The Carmelite does not go into a convent or abbey so much as into a desert place, by her own definition.
It was on Mount Carmel that Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal, and the Lord God vanquished them; there, God Almighty answered by fire (1 Kings 18.) On Mount Carmel, the Shunnamite woman found Elisha and would not let him go until he came to her rescue (2 Kings 4.) A rugged desert range, preferred by prophets, where the enemies of God breathed their last, and from whence a dead child would breathe again.
There are some naturally taciturn men and women among us. They speak little, however much they might have to say, and silence seems to be their native soil. There are those whose diet can or must be limited or even “strict,” who find no difficulty with it. We all have acquaintances who prefer large portions of solitude to a full social calendar. Carmel could accommodate all of these, but Carmel is something more.
Carmel is to love discipline and difficulty as the dearest and best of friends, intrinsically. Carmel does not merely accept hardship – it flings wide the door!
Carmel as a way of life is not the work of a week, nor of months, or years. Carmel is bearing the burdens of others and so fulfilling the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2) Carmel is hard; it is demanding, but purposefully. It is not easily understood. Carmel closely resembles . . . life, without pleasant distractions. without false comforts, and even without bona fide comforts if they will get in the way of Christlikeness. The Carmelite might well say that they have “meat to eat” most of us “know not of.” (John 4:32)
There are forces to be vanquished here in Cor Unum. Selfishness and haughtiness and apathy are among them. There are places in our hearts that will live again, if we will open wide the door to the remedies God provides within the hardships life supplies. Can we trust the Mojave of discipline? Can we befriend the Sahara of difficulties? With interior fountains of joy?
Among the other orders, Carmel takes on desert survival training. For each who will remain, there is an Arm upon which she may one day be seen coming up out of the wilderness, leaning on her Beloved. (Song of Solomon 8:5)
Song of Solomon 8:5 … Who is that coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you. There your mother was in labor with you; there she who bore you was in labor. (ESV)
Tomas Castelazo, Wikipedia, by permission
Cor Unum Abbey 