I want to be a Monk...
Not the celibate kind who hides from all things worldly in a retreat from all things un-pure...
But the bad-boy,
beer-brewing,
veggie-growing,
deep-thinking,
cigar-smoking,
dream-living,
peace-making,
kind hearted
type of Monk.
I want to be an urban Monk...
Someone who lives in the heart of the city,
who lives with people,
who cares deeply for those who are struggling,
who fights for justice,
who brings hope to places where hope is seldom found,
who actively seeks a reconciled world.
I want the urban jungle to become more of a jungle...
where chickens graze freely,
where produce is grown in back gardens and shared with a neighbour,
I want neighbours to know each other,
and borrow sugar,
or milk, or flour,
or flowers,
or pizza ovens.
I want the world to be productive,
for livelihood to be created through productive action,
for those with high IQs to understand the stupidity of the system they are active in creating,
for those with small IQs to get to know the genius hidden inside themselves,
for the genius of generosity to manifest,
the world to become a better place to live.
I have been inspired to be more Monk-like in my every day, to notice the effect my small feet are having on the world, and use those small feet to make a large difference on this beautiful planet.
I want to be a Monk, because the world needs more Monks—people who decide the system that we live in is rubbish, and that we need to learn again the unforced rhythms of grace. People who give up their vain pleasures for something bigger, someone greater. A generation passionately and actively working towards the transformation of all things. People who take their small feet and make a big difference, beginning on the inside of the self, and become the reality in which we live.
I want to be a Monk.
Tim Shallard wants to be a Monk - in so doing he is a co-director of Mosaic Workshop-a shared creative space in central Auckland: a barista at Crave Café-the most bad-ass café in Auckland: he is studying Theology at Carey Baptist College; and runs a poetry collective: and is passionate about coffee, community, and anything Morningside.
Tim Shallard's previous articles may be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/tim-shallard.html