When Moses came down the mountain after conversing with God, his face shone so the Israelites could not look at him. A life of prayer, of constantly drawing close to God, will "show" too. Somewhere, Jesus says, "I know mine, and mine know me." Again: "By their fruits, you shall know them." While we have had our enemies, by and large our lifestyle -- like those of the very first Christians -- has caused us to "enjoy the favor of all the people." (Acts2:47) This, perhaps in part, because we are very much like the folks in our neighborhood... yet at the same time, as we are "different."

Out in the Neighborhood

Because self-support is such a firm and active principle with us, we feel obliged, like most mortals, to earn our own living. This is according to Benedict's wisdom: "Then they are truly monks when they live by the labor of their hands, as did our fathers and the apostles." Over the centuries, however, another idea has evolved that because monks pray for the world, the world should support them. We have no quarrel with those who follow this arrangement, but we feel we best follow our tradition by supporting ourselves, "if at all possible." Supporting oneself, in this day and age when many families think they need two jobs, in itself, makes its mark on you. Even though we endeavor "to work the work, and not let the work work us," as they say, the colossal task of self-support defines in part who you are. We run a small herd of cattle, cows and calves; and we take pictures for a living... much of it wedding photography.

What you are speaks louder than what you say.

Wedding photography, in its own way is an "opportunity for witness." Within a 50-mile radius of our community, it is no exaggeration to say that most of the people know who we are, because of our simple, uniform monastic dress. We are a firm fixture in "the neighborhood." The people we see and serve -- the people who see us week after week -- might not be able to define a monk. But they understand our life as "other worldly" and gospel oriented, even though our work very much immerses us "in the world." The uniform or "habit" we wear that "tells others what we do," also speaks to us. It reminds us of "the one thing necessary," it reminds us we are monks. The word itself suggests the challenge. From the Greek monachos or monos, (Latin, solus), it means 'alone' or 'one'. We have one overriding task: to seek God.