Brother Jacob, Part 2

What have been some other surprises that you've discovered in monastic life? I'm sure there's been many, but just something that springs to

mind.

I

think I've surprised myself more than anything.

My favorite story is of my first week of silence.

Every two or three months, we have a week of silence.

It's actually only five days.

We call it contemplative days.

And when I first entered the monastery...

I mean, you know, entering a monastery is a big deal, right? Like there were a few things I knew here and there that I would struggle with,

right?

But silence was the only thing that truly scared me.

I had never even spent a day in silence.

I was not at all sure that I would survive a whole week, right?

I mean, we live in a world that is constantly bombarded by news.

You've always got a radio on or a TV on or, you know? Right.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I was terrified.

I'm not even sure what I thought exactly would happen.

I just didn't want to spend that much time alone with myself.

So as my first contemplative days drew nearer, our formator was a

huge support.

And

I had conversations with other brothers about it, how to occupy myself and taking comfort in their stories of struggling in the silence.