Coming to God

“When it comes to faith, while there are guidelines – for Christians, the Bible and the scaffolding of the church’s theology and tradition – there is no right way to do it. Flannery O’Connor once wisely remarked that ‘most of us come to the church by a means the church does not allow’, and Martin Buber implies that discovering that means might constitute our life’s work. He states that: ‘All (of us) have access to God, but each has a different access. (Our) great chance lies precisely in (our) unlikeness. God’s all inclusiveness manifests itself in the infinite multiplicity of the ways that lead to him, each of which is open to one (person)’.

… for myself, I have found that being a member of a church congregation, and also following, as I am able, the discipline of Benedict’s Rule, has helped me to take my path towards God without falling into the trap of thinking of myself as ‘a church of one’. I have also found that the Benedictines are a good illustration of Buber’s point. Although their members follow a common way of life, monasteries do not produce cookie-cutter monks and nuns. Just the opposite. Monasteries have a unity that is remarkably unrestrained by uniformity; they are comprised of distinct individuals, often memorable characters, whose eccentricities live for generations in the community’s oral history.”

Taken from the bestselling book: “The Cloister Walk” by Kathleen Norris