Be Here Now

“An elder said: Just as a tree cannot bear fruit if it is often transplanted, so neither can a monk bear fruit if he frequently changes his abode.”
—Wisdom of the Desert

As someone who has lived in three cities and five different “abodes” in nine years, I can identify with this oft-transplanted tree, as well as the restless monk. I regret none of these moves, but I do sense that at some point greater fruit will be born from just growing where I’m planted.

However, the elder is not just talking about changing where we live. He’s talking about that incessant need to control our external situation, that compulsion we feel to rearrange things in an effort to “achieve” happiness. So much suffering is caused by our assumption that if we can just get this, or we can just avoid that, everything will be wonderful. Then we get this or avoid that, and it’s not exactly wonderful, so we keep looking for something else to get or avoid.

Contemplative prayer is about intentionally breaking this pattern, and deliberately practicing gratitude and acceptance for what is, rather than what we wish was. The stability of a monk’s life is a way of living out this prayer experience, of staying put and embracing the present moment. Thankfully, this embrace is available to all of us, even when it becomes necessary to rent that moving van again.