KristyWes

Ssshhhhh!

This weekend I went to see a documentary called "Into Great Silence," about Carthusian monks living in a monastery in France. Since the monks rarely speak, the movie is mostly without dialogue (hence the title). What you hear throughout most of the almost-3 hours of the movie are the sounds of the monks’ everyday life: chanting during Mass, the peals of the chapel bells marking time, water running, scissors snipping, food carts rattling down long stone hallways, wind blowing snow drifts and rustling leaves.

It’s a mini-retreat, really, letting you escape city noise and messiness for a brief respite into vicarious simplicity and solitude. Plus it’s visually appealing – the cinematography is a mix of grainy shots (that seem to want to tell you something with their imperfection), up-close-and-personal shots of the individual monks as they pray, eat, garden, and pray again, and pristine views of the surrounding mountain ranges and sunrises. It made me want to sit somewhere with nothing to do but watch snow melt and think about the God who made it.

The filmmaker had wanted to make the movie back in the late 1980’s, but the monastery told him that the timing wasn’t right; “maybe in 10 or 13 years.” Sixteen years later he received the call letting him know it was ok to come and film. I guess that’s monastery time for you – a bit different from how I operate, getting annoyed if someone makes me wait 10 or 13 minutes. It’s also a picture of God’s timing, too; we cry out for things n-o-w, and often He makes us wait. But He’s always right – the wait is worth it, and we’re all the more beautiful for it.

Retreating to the mountains of France to spend time with God is nice work if you can get it, but sometimes we just need to learn to see His beauty in the midst of our current noisiness. I learned this lesson, too, from the movie, as the guy sitting next to me was eating popcorn. Noisily. Very noisily. And constantly, for at least the first 30-45 minutes of the movie. Sometimes he varied his snacking patterns by loudly slurping his soda. I mean, really – who brings loud food into a movie called “Into Great Silence”? Nonetheless, it provided a spiritual exercise for me to try to put aside the inclination to choke him, to ask God for patience, and to try to appreciate the beauty of the scenes unfolding before me despite the racket coming from my neighbor’s mouth. :)

To sum up, go see the movie if it sounds appealing to you. I definitely enjoyed it. But if it doesn’t sound like your cup of tea – take heart! Only 24 days until Blades of Glory.