There comes a pause, for human strength will not endure to dance without cessation; and everyone must reach the point at length of absolute prostration.
~ William Wordsworth in "The Prelude" from THE POETICAL WORKS OF WILLIAM WORDSWORTH
It is not an easy task, but a most rewarding one, to bless the marketplace with a contemplative presence. It seems to me that the life of work and prayer is not only possible, but greatly enhanced by standing firm in the real world with one's being anchored solidly in the Ultimate Reality. It is the harmony of the universe that echoes in the heart of the "new monk" who works and prays, lives and loves, re-creates and recreates in the center of the present world. The mystical monastery is the whole of society; the marketplace is one of its cloisters. The Holy Rule of the New Monk is the solid perspective of the spiritual practice embraced.
