Yesterday’s sermon was about the Inbetween Times. It made me think of the monastic/religious life – a choice/vocation to inhabit the in-between times with purpose. And that made me think of this quote by the “the charismatic evangelical” Archbishop of Canterbury:

Life in Religion is the ultimate wager on the existence of God. The church should always be engaged in doing things that make no sense if God does not exist.

Most Revd Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury

The above is written for the Anglican Religious Life Year Book so when it speaks of “life in religion” it is about monastic life. And the reason most forms of contemplative life are so unknowable to modern society is because it is the “ultimate wager” and “makes no sense” without God.

I have also been thinking that the absolute relationship to the absolute telos should be lived openly in secret. “Enclosed in plain sight”, for a modern anchorite. A complete commitment to Jesus who lives in my heart and I in his. But without the outward trappings of the monastic life – habit and a change of name.