We continue our second year of spiritual practice in Beloved Life. Working with ideas from Ian’s book Cave Refectory Road: monastic rhythms for contemporary living we’ll now begin to explore how ancient practices from the Jesus tradition might be a gift in our own times and in our own places. Cave Refectory and Road describe three related but distinct paths in the traditional monastic life. Each of these paths has the potential to bring about change in us for good in an age of dislocation, upheaval and uncertainty. Each may shape a Christianity that is a gift for the twenty-first century, helping to bring about the kind of better world that Jesus described when he spoke of the ‘kingdom of heaven’ coming near…
The jazz record ‘Kind of Blue’ by Miles Davis is a constant companion of mine. It’s a piece of music that seems to have the power to give new colour, shape or possibility to the day. It takes some old ingredients, and does something with them that I can only describe as miraculous. The practice of improvisational jazz may be a really helpful way of thinking about how we engage with a living tradition as ancient as that of monasticism…
©Ian Adams ‘Cave Refectory Road: monastic rhythms for contemporary living’ (Canterbury Press and Liturgical Press USA)
Look out for short daily posts around the week’s theme on Facebook and Twitter. We’ll be doing the practices wherever we are, and we’ll look forward to hearing how you get on – do let us know!
Ian’s new collection of poems Unfurling is out now in paperback and e-format on Canterbury Press, also via your local bookshop, and all usual online sources including Book Depository with free delivery world-wide.