The Cell

Abba Moses said, “Sit in your cell and your cell will teach you everything.”  This is wisdom for us all.  Many of us get seduced by the idea that things will be better elsewhere.  When restless and bored, we decide to make a change. “Escape” is the focus, though we fool ourselves that we are making “improvements” or getting out of a bad situation.  People leave jobs, relationships, localities, daily health practices all because they think things will be better elsewhere.  We take ourselves to the elsewhere. But we do not escape ourselves.  That is an inside job that requires less and not more movement or change.  I sometimes get bored in the monastery.  The same old, same old.  I have learned to stay put, and have found “second opinions” or what I call Soul-Think.  I often find that doing less change brings more change, within, which is where the change needs to happen in most cases.  Certainly in my case.