I mentioned those dozens of books we read early on, my monastic friend and I.  In one of them, written by a woman who became the Superior of her monastery, she tells of her eagerness in early days, how she was given a set of heavy volumes to read and study.  She lugged them to her cell and undertook to sail through them as best she could, delivering them back at the end rather happy with herself.

She found them the next day back at her door with a note to read through them again, this time slowly.

There we go.  There is a good glimpse into what lies ahead.  There is no hurry, there is only the taking of small, purposeful steps in a right direction.  We will get where we are going, trusting the God we seek,  if we do not turn back.

We spoke very early in this New Year about an adventure through the Gospels of Jesus Christ, setting out to read them through five times this year.  One right after another, whether relatively quickly, or just a little at a time, but daily.  Those of you involved in another study, hallelujah!  Keep up with your goals … but let me encourage you not to go a day without reading those Words in Red, those sentences that came directly from the mouth of the Lord or that related specifically to His life and ministry on earth.  By them, His disciples knew Him, and so shall we.  Let us incorporate them into our reading and study, or read just those books until they become more familiar than any other text we have ever read.

This is one of the tenets of Cor Unum Abbey … we will give place and precedence to Jesus, the Word of God, and to Jesus in the Word of God.  There are 89 Gospel chapters, times five, and that equals 445 chapters.  That’s more than one chapter each day per year, but our reading can spill over into the next year, because we will be reading those chapters daily as long as we live. A January First beginning is completely inessential – isn’t that comforting and liberating!  If you would like to go through quickly, do go ahead, just pray as you go.  We should all have some wonderful stories to tell before we are finished those first five readings.

In the interest of full disclosure, we value the entire Word of God in this cloister, and we will find ways to read through it, to pray our way through it, praying, worshiping, repenting, and giving thanks as we go, but well begun is half done, as said that other delightful Superior!  You know the one … Nanny to the Banks children!

Family Bible

David Ball, by permission