Why I want to live more like a nun

I have been reading about the Benedectines of Mary, Queen of Apostles. These are young Catholic nuns that live in rural Missouri. The reverend mother is in her 30's and was a professional musician before joining the Order.  I heard about them on a radio broadcast. They recently released their fourth CD.  They sound like what I imagine angels would sound like. I purchased a CD.

I can understand very few words of their songs. Some of the songs are in Latin and all of the songs were recorded at their priory in Missouri not in a studio. There are no instruments, just their voices.   But the music put me in such a peaceful space that I wanted to learn more about the sisters.

What I found on their website was enough to convince me that I wanted to live more like them.  Obviously, I can't live EXACTLY like them.  They have taken vows to be married to Christ. They grow their own food. Their jobs are all inside the priory.  Those things I can't emulate but they live by a motto of "work and pray."  All day as they work, they are devoting the activities to God. Their day begins with prayer and ends with prayer. They eat one meal a day.  All of their daily activities revovle around silence, solitude and prayer interspersed with devotional singing.  

How can I copy that?  I am married, so celibacy is out of the question.  I shop for my food.  My job is at a University.  However, I do desire to devote every activity to God. I do desire more silence, solitude and prayer in my life and I would love to sing out loud every day.  Through Sacred and Fit I have learned that I don't need to eat a lot.  I could probably survive on one big meal a day but I don't want to sacrifice alertness and clarity.  Maybe I need to find out what is the right amount and type of food that would help me be peaceful and still inside; less agitated by things in the world; less likely to cause agitation.  I think that the right type and the right amount of food might help me to live more like a nun.

I'm going to give this some thought.

A Christian with a Guru

I am a Christian with a guru. I am a baptized, born again, believer in Jesus Christ and I needed a guru. I not only needed a Savior, I needed saving from my own weaknesses- pride, envy, slothfulness, for example.  I needed hope that the ability to have the "mind of Christ" and to do "greater works than these..." and to "love my neighbor" and "love my enemy as myself"  were possible in this earthly life not just in the life after dying.

I needed a spiritual trainer. I didn't need "Christianity 101" but the Kindergarten version- the very basics that could produce results. HOW exactly do you do unto others as you would want them to do unto you? HOW do I have the mind of Christ?  HOW do I unceasingly keep my mind stayed on Him? My guru has shown me how and I am a better Christian because of him.

My guru's name is Sathya Sai Baba. His ashram or home is in India.  He has many followers all over the world. Most of them are Hindu but not all. I have no desire to become a Hindu. I just want to be a true and authentic and obedient Christian, every hour of every day.   This requires training.

I didn't realize that I would need a guru when I first became a Christian. I thought being baptized as a child was enough. Later I learned that I needed to accept Christ as my personal savior and confess my sins. I did, in response to at least 3 different calls to the alter on 3 separate occasions.  Later I learned that I needed to be baptized when I was old enough to choose so at 19 and at 24 I chose and was baptized- in a church and in a river, respectively. Later I learned that I needed to join a church. I did. I have joined 18 churches over the course of 40 years. Later I learned that I needed to study the Bible. I did.  Or memorize scriptures I did. Or pray in tongues.   I did for as much as 8 hours per day.  I also fasted, tithed, gave alms and offerings, cleaned bathrooms, served meals, fed the hungry....  Yet none of these things seemed to be enough to get the results I wanted until I met my guru.

I am so thankful for Sai Baba

Since coming under the training of Sai Baba I have so much more appreciation for people who devote their entire life to serving God, like nuns and monks and missionaries.   I admire those who give up a regular family life or a comfortable home or lucrative job to create a life where God is at the center.  This requires training.  Sai Baba has taught me that I don't have to go to a monastery or give up my job or leave my family to have the same kind of training.  I can create a life that has the same components- silence, solitude and prayer right from where I am.  I can be trained.

Sacred and Fit began as a practice to bring my health practices and my spiritual practices together. I have learned over the last 3 years, primarily through Sai Baba's teaching,  that  my ultimate goal is to have just a spiritual life... from which everything else comes. 

This is my new understanding of what it is to be Sacred and Fit.