Busy is a lie.

“I’m busy” tends to be a response given often as being proud of your importance, or presumably focused life, sometimes as a gentle hint for someone that you are not interested in this or that (when you have no courage to say you are really not interested). Most of the time it’s an excuse based on lack of self-discipline, poor prioritizing and hectic lifestyle. Where there is no rule of life (rule as in alignment bringing to fruitfulness, not set of domineering tasks which are just managerial), there is no life lived indeed. People spend tons of money on coaching or fitness trainers or gadgets so someone or something can harness their unordered passions, help them refocus, plan their diets, entertainment and exercise routines which they can share on their social media as the antidote for drowning in depressing thoughts, feelings of abandonment or laziness.

Enter the monk mode. 

Monk mode is an approach to life, not only scheduling, that will teach you how to live from rest, deep sense of abandonment, in times of high and low productivity, times of confusion, big transitions, unavoidable suffering and triumphs. Monk mode is offering uninterrupted hours of deep contemplative life, even while at work, family or stuck in traffic. More about it in the coming posts during our Apostles Fast. 

RULE OF LIFE is a God given Rhythm.
Monk mode is based on RULE. This rule is lived by thousands of people around the world and it has been tried by many generations before, that would include both genders, all continents, all cultures and all times. Pretty universal. Rule of life is enabling people to stay focused, goal oriented, live in solitude and communal aspects of life (depending on the charism, some are more communal than others) and not worrying about the externals that steal your joy, purpose and call. Generally saying, it is all about understanding how the human person responds to the natural and supernatural world and how to enter into the rhythm of life that was design for each of us to live fully. There are many deaths required, but the reward of living from the Heart of Jesus will make you laugh at your pitiful attachments and fascinating distractions after you enter into the mode of His life. 

At Stone to Flesh all Missionaries are learning how to live in the Rhythm of His heartbeat. We have our daily, weekly, monthly and yearly rhythm which is (surprisingly!) looking casual and very… normal. For many of you, if you look for something innovative you will be surprised seeing the usual. The secret sauce is this: living it is more powerful than you can imagine. In simplicity and steadiness we win as the turtle won the race against the rabbit.

One of those rhythms is fasting. Frequent fasting puts us in the mode of RE-TURNING, metanoia, where we reexamine our desires, weaknesses, strengths, priorities, re-creation times, work habits, family and friends relationships, time management, body needs, all in the shadow of His wings where we find refuge. 

So as we pray Lectio Divina today during our first day of The Apostles Fast, we ask Jesus to lead us into lives lived truthfully, being unrecognized and dying, allowing Him to chastise us, in sorrow, poverty or having nothing so we can understand how can we possess all things in Him.

Blog posts about fasting: