The Habit Makes the Monk
You know that joke where someone says they want to be as good a person as their dog thinks they are? I used to think that was super-corny, but now I get it.
I’m a monastic, living in an Abbey that is also the rectory of a church. I wear a habit six days a week; sometimes I change out of it when I leave the house, but sometimes I keep it on. It’s a symbol of who I am, or, more truthfully, who I want to be.
John Cassian, one of the early Christian monastics, wrote about “the garb of the monks” in the very first chapter of his famous book The Institutes. In it, he describes each part of the habit in terms of its modest covering of the body, its observance of simplicity, its conveyance of readiness to do battle for Christ, and its differentness from the garb of the world.[1] According to Thomas Merton, Cassian wants his readers to get a picture of the monk before describing their interior lives. He adds, “So, too, in monastic formation today: one begins with exterior practices which form an atmosphere in which the interior perfection can grow.”[2]
I heard this when I first got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous as well: “Bring the body and the mind will follow;” also, “we can’t think ourselves into right action but we can act our way into right thinking.” Doing the right thing time after time, making a “habit” of it (see what I did there???), will eventually change my insides so that I can take that action without having to think about it.
In other words, I’m trying to be the person my habit tells the world I am.
I’ve been working on letting go of “character defects” (AA) since I got sober in 1988. And I’ve been trying to let go grow in holiness since my baptism in 2010. And what I mean by that is I’ve been trying to open myself up to God’s grace because in truth only God can remove those things. And, for me at least, my spiritual progress is directly correlated to prayer and time spent in silence so that I can make space for God to do His work. It also means practicing the attitudes and behaviors that I want to have. That’s where the habit comes in as a handy reminder. Better than a WWJD bracelet…
Let me give you an example: I’ve been known to get a tad frustrated while waiting in line at a grocery or other big store, especially when there aren’t enough people working. And I always seem to be behind the person who’s writing a check, or can’t remember their pin, or has 87 coupons. In street clothes I might express that frustration with loud sighs or even a not-so-quiet, “You have got to be kidding me!” But when I’m in my habit I’m reminded that I represent Christ (although in fact once we’ve been baptized we always represent Christ as part of the Body of Christ), and that I want to redeem how people feel about Christians, not make it worse. And yes, I truly want to grow in holiness. Like Thomas Merton, I want to be a saint. And so I don’t say or do anything. I wait patiently with a smile on my face. And I believe that the more times I do that with the habit on the more likely it is I will begin doing it when I don’t have the habit on.
In Thomas Merton’s terms, the exterior practice of wearing the habit helps to creates the conditions that make it easier for my interior perfection to grow.
And one more thing – one of my greatest joys when wearing the habit is when people stop to talk to me because of it. So many people are unhappy, lonely, depressed, and searching for answers, whether it’s specifically about religion or not. And being in the habit – for some people – brings a level of anonymity… or maybe there’s more to it than that - that allows them to share what’s in their hearts. Living a monastic life isn’t always easy, but the joys and blessings and gifts are endless.
I want to be a good disciple. I want to be the person God called me to be. I want to grow, day by day, into someone who manifests the gifts of the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. If I can make progress in these, I will become the person my habit tells the world I am, and I can be a genuine witness to the power of God’s love, grace, and mercy.
--Sister Debra Susannah Mary Rhodes, CMMR
[1] John Cassian, The Institutes, p.21-23
[2] Thomas Merton, Cassian and the Fathers: Initiation into the Monastic Tradition, p. 141
