Variables
Thursday 15th June
Last year I watched with interest the BBC series “The Monastery” where five men spent forty days in, can you guess? Yes, well done - a monastery. Worth Abbey in West Sussex to be precise. It really was a fascinating program and I gained a huge respect for the monks there.
Well, a new series has started called “The Convent”. You can probably tell where this is going - four ladies this time staying with some Poor Clares, also in West Sussex.
Now, I’ve always had a bias against nuns - I’m not sure if it’s reasonable, but growing up and going to school in the vicinity of a teaching convent and hearing horror stories from the young ladies who attended has probably not helped. I thought I’d better give them a fair chance.
As it happens, the program made me feel uncomfortable. Unfortunately, it’s hard to tell why - there were too many variables between The Monastery and The Convent to determine the cause. Strangely, though, there were also differences I just couldn’t put my finger on.
The major differences stem from the fact that Worth Abbey houses a Benedictine order, while Poor Clares are Franciscans. The monks are used to outsiders joining them for retreats whereas the nuns have had no outsiders in their convent for 800 years so they were obviously more put out.
Additionally, the ladies entering the convent just seem to be more desperate for salvation. Or something like that. The guys certainly had their problems, but they didn’t “tell their story” as part of their group session. They delved a little in one-to-one chats with the monks, but it was very different. I also don’t think we heard any of the background of any of the monks - it seems their ‘life’ started when they entered the monastery to the exclusion of their life before, whereas the nuns were telling all about their previous lives, loves, marriages.
So - I can’t tell if the differences are simply the difference between men and women, or Benedictines and Franciscans or something else. My scientific brain wants the ladies to visit a Benedictine nunnery, and then also they should all visit Franciscan equivalents. Of course, the guys on The Monastery did also visit a Carthusian charterhouse, so maybe I just need a little patience to see if they will compare and contrast.
Watch this space…
they want to be buddhist monks instead, it seems to be a lot of fun. when i lived in haslemere there was a tibetan lama there called yeshi. he was a right laugh. he used to make prayer wheels out of plasticene rather than rancid butter and when it snowed he made a tibetan lion out of snow.
and the dalai lama came to stay. all the tibetans there were fanblimmin’tastic but yeshi had something else. what a monk!
henry
15 Jun 06 at 10:41 am
Agreed. Buddhist monks are teh w00t!
I’m currently trying to figure out St. Benedicts problem with laughing when Buddhist monks (and particularly the Dalai Lama) seem to laugh all the time.
stu
15 Jun 06 at 10:55 am
I quite liked the Benedictine monks. They had a calm atmosphere surrounding them.
sarah
15 Jun 06 at 12:01 pm
It’s an interesting scenario isn’t it? Four women, each with their individual everyday life problems hoping for salvation from a group of women with no real experience of everyday life. ot quite sure how the poor nuns are supposed to help them. I suspect they may flounder a bit!
Aoj
15 Jun 06 at 2:06 pm
It certainly is interesting. The monks, despite their distance from ‘real life’ seemed to observe the world well, and had - if not answers, then good questions to ask the attendees to help them answer their own questions.
I have to admit we gave up watching part-way through to go to bed (that wouldn’t have happened with ‘The Monastery’), but we did record it, so I’ll have another look.
stu
15 Jun 06 at 2:11 pm
This is a strange coincidence. Earlier this afternoon I was reading about this show on the BBC website. I think it’s a very interesting idea and it’s a pity I can’t watch it. Well, maybe I can …in a year or two when it’s on BBC Prime. I used to have all the BBC channels but now I am only left with Prime and World
Dakota
15 Jun 06 at 2:46 pm
Ooh… I was in the BBC World transmission suite last week. Amazing place!
stu
15 Jun 06 at 2:55 pm
hhrmph, there I go, updating my bookmarks as directed, and all the chat is still going on over here!
sweavo
15 Jun 06 at 3:24 pm
Yeah - sorry about that… looks like I might not move to Livejournal after all.
stu
15 Jun 06 at 3:26 pm
Last night I watched Tony Robinson doing his search for the Da Vinci Code truths on one of the Discovery Channels. Lucky to get anything good and English over here, esp on BBC America.
Missed the Monastery so far but will look out for it.
ttfn Jane
jane
15 Jun 06 at 5:12 pm
A few years ago there was this chap, Jesse James he called himself. Used to make a total nuisance of himself in all the local pubs: violent drunkard, always threatening folk for no reason, starting fights all the time, smashing windows, all for shits and giggles. Well known and hated all around bad egg. Eventually the authorities sent him to the local nunnery for a spot of community service. He was supposed to be there for 6 weeks, he ran away after 2 days because the nuns were ‘picking on him’. After that, he became known simply as Complete Jesse. Doesn’t bother anyone anymore. Hoorah for nuns!
Omally
15 Jun 06 at 7:04 pm