Prayer Time

 In a monastery we pray when it is time, that is when the bell chimes. Stop whatever we are doing, even in our self-importance and pray or go to the chapel to sing in choir.  Here, we do not pray only when we feel like it, and no other time.  That might be too much about the person, in this case, me.  The bell rings and it is a chance to practice self-surrender.  Surrender my need to finish a task.  Who needs me to finish?  We are not here to finish tasks on our time, but to be people of prayer in letting go.  In a way, it makes the monastery somewhat timeless, without deadlines.  In the original rule of St. Benedict, the time of prayer changed with the seasons.  If you pray at dawn, that is not the same clock time in the Summer Solstice as it is in the Winter Solstice.  This would make havoc for the retreatants who visit a monastery.  As long as you can hear the bell you don’t really need a watch.  Now that would be surrender!