Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
1 Corinthians 9:25
Perhaps, if we were to distill all that we are about here in Cor Unum Abbey, it would be that this is our training ground. That concept, more than anything, might be the allure that keeps us here, that keeps you reading these passages, that keeps the nuns of Cor Unum on point.
En pointe. In another language, in another sense, that is the goal of every little girl (and some young men) who try on their first ballet slippers. Tendu, plié, battement, bras bas, rond de jambe … a serious five-year-old-student knows these terms and can produce the effect.
I was able to enjoy the Moscow Ballet in performance last Tuesday night, and as ever, one cannot help but ponder how many hours, how much effort – how many calories! – may have gone into every perfect pirouette and relevé, not to mention each jeté or tour en l’air.
I particularly love that last expression. Sometimes the dancers, particularly the male dancers, do seem to float on air, as if they are taking a tour of the air space between them and the floor, spinning like ice skaters, but on no foundation at all, gaining lift sometimes for a moment while airborne, in a breath of time, with nothing but muscle to elevate them.
That degree of skill and artistry does not come, not even to the most talented, overnight. What’s more, it has to be accomplished, on the beat, on the mark, night after night.
If only … that’s a terrible beginning … but if only we could set our sights on a career in monasticism (prayer, worship, listening, gratitude, perfect fasting, hope, and joy in the Presence of the Lord) and pursue it with the fervor and passion of the dancer … the warrior … the athlete. Just as Paul said, in the hope of the crown of the work. For a crown that fades, withers, and crumbles away, those devoted to their craft will work and suffer and fairly give up the rest of their lives toward their vision.
My dear Sisters, I cannot say it better than this. I cannot do better than to take these words to heart. This is the pulse of this monastery, while life goes on around us. May God grant each of us today to keep to our training schedule, to be sure that those who run to receive a crown will not be disappointed in this race, for it is monastic, and those who would leap and soar on wings as eagles, they will look down from the heights and rejoice to dance with God.
Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever.
1 Corinthians 9:25
Le grande jete’
Fanny Schertzer, Wikipedia, by permission