Thank you for your takeways. It sounds very encouraging!
"Rightly ordered souls rightly order cultures." The saints give us beautiful examples of how to try to rightly order our souls. I love that there are so many ways of doing this, whether it's the Little Way of St. Therese, or the bold spirit of St. Teresa of Avila or the intellectual fervor of St. Thomas Aquinas. God gives us all gifts to return Love back to him and to love our families and neighbors in concrete ways.
Happy All Saints Day to all aspiring saints! God bless!
Something I didn't say explicitly in this piece but that definitely crossed my mind is: this is precisely what or doctrine of the Communion of Saints means. The Church Militant guided by and praying with the Church Triumphant, led into a more human, holy way of existing "on earth as it is in heaven"; the Eucharist as mana from heaven, and the Saints as part of that in some mysterious way. If Our Lord feeds us with His own Body, and the Saints are part of the Body, then it seems like our nourishment and growth must be due in part to them If it doesn't mean something like this, I don't see how it can mean anything at all.
Even the hermit or the anchoress has community and, therefore, the possibility of growth in holiness.
Great post! Felt like I was there. So glad you included the adventure of getting there. I made my own pilgrimage to study with Paul at Schumacher College in Devin 9 years ago. Similarly life-changing.
Your line about the paint lines straining under all that car made me LOL. Also loved this: “ the material world doesn’t need to be reenchanted or remade in some way, it simply needs to be reengaged.” And what you say about whole individuals bringing that wholeness to their communities- yes! The specifics of what that looks like - also, yes!
Thanks so much for these reflections Nathaniel! Wish you could have joined us for the Unmachined Coffee House; it would have been great to have you as part of the discussion. Hope to make it to the live conference next time:)
It's my pleasure, Ruth! I didn't say it but I wrote this in part as penance for not being able to make it to the UCH on Saturday. I hope that it makes up for having to pull out after agreeing to be there in some small way.
Speaking of which: how did it go?? I don't think I've heard yet.
Great reflections, Nate. It was a pleasure to meet you there. I look forward to the "Part 2" you mention about the ways you've been trying to implement this in your family!
Thank you, Dixie! It was so great to meet you and spend some time chatting. I'm still blown away that your husband and I belong to the same chapter of oblates. That you and I met via social media, completely separate from anything have to do with the monastery, is truly wild.
What a blast to meet you, brother, and what a cool weekend; part of me wishes we could have all followed Paul the Pied Piper out of the Machine and pitched tents together in the wilderness, but alas, we had to all disperse to do our respective things.
Thank you for your takeways. It sounds very encouraging!
"Rightly ordered souls rightly order cultures." The saints give us beautiful examples of how to try to rightly order our souls. I love that there are so many ways of doing this, whether it's the Little Way of St. Therese, or the bold spirit of St. Teresa of Avila or the intellectual fervor of St. Thomas Aquinas. God gives us all gifts to return Love back to him and to love our families and neighbors in concrete ways.
Happy All Saints Day to all aspiring saints! God bless!
Something I didn't say explicitly in this piece but that definitely crossed my mind is: this is precisely what or doctrine of the Communion of Saints means. The Church Militant guided by and praying with the Church Triumphant, led into a more human, holy way of existing "on earth as it is in heaven"; the Eucharist as mana from heaven, and the Saints as part of that in some mysterious way. If Our Lord feeds us with His own Body, and the Saints are part of the Body, then it seems like our nourishment and growth must be due in part to them If it doesn't mean something like this, I don't see how it can mean anything at all.
Even the hermit or the anchoress has community and, therefore, the possibility of growth in holiness.
Happy All Saints Day, Joanne!
Oh man, I reeeeeeally want to go to this, and your reflections make me want to go to the next one even more!
Tsh, you'd love it SO MUCH. It's such a wonderful bunch of people.
I’m going to have to do my darnedest to make it to a conference one year. You make the whole thing sound wonderfully stirring and exciting.
I'm going to try to be there again, if I can manage it. I'd love to meet up with you there!
Sounds like an incredible conference!
It was a phenomenal time!
I was finally able to get around to reading this, and I'm so glad I did. this was excellent. Thanks for taking the time to 'put pen to paper.'
Ahh thank you, Stephen. Appreciate you taking the time to do so. It was a pleasure to write!
Great post! Felt like I was there. So glad you included the adventure of getting there. I made my own pilgrimage to study with Paul at Schumacher College in Devin 9 years ago. Similarly life-changing.
Your line about the paint lines straining under all that car made me LOL. Also loved this: “ the material world doesn’t need to be reenchanted or remade in some way, it simply needs to be reengaged.” And what you say about whole individuals bringing that wholeness to their communities- yes! The specifics of what that looks like - also, yes!
Seems he's had quite the wide influence, hasn't he? What an incredible mind.
Thanks for your kind words! To wholeness!
Thanks so much for these reflections Nathaniel! Wish you could have joined us for the Unmachined Coffee House; it would have been great to have you as part of the discussion. Hope to make it to the live conference next time:)
It's my pleasure, Ruth! I didn't say it but I wrote this in part as penance for not being able to make it to the UCH on Saturday. I hope that it makes up for having to pull out after agreeing to be there in some small way.
Speaking of which: how did it go?? I don't think I've heard yet.
You captured the heart of it well! It was great to meet you (and I'm glad you recognized me because I may not have you - ha.)
Also, your "getting there" story was quite fun. You set the scene perfectly!
I'm glad what I wrote seemed right to you. It was great to meet you too!
Getting to and from the conference was legitimately a blast. I could write a whole other post filling in those gaps lol
Great reflections, Nate. It was a pleasure to meet you there. I look forward to the "Part 2" you mention about the ways you've been trying to implement this in your family!
Thank you, Dixie! It was so great to meet you and spend some time chatting. I'm still blown away that your husband and I belong to the same chapter of oblates. That you and I met via social media, completely separate from anything have to do with the monastery, is truly wild.
Yes, I was astonished by that! When I mentioned you and your ring to him, he said, Wait, it's not Nathaniel Marshall, is it? And I was like, WHAT??!!
What a blast to meet you, brother, and what a cool weekend; part of me wishes we could have all followed Paul the Pied Piper out of the Machine and pitched tents together in the wilderness, but alas, we had to all disperse to do our respective things.