Suburban Contemplative

"I don't think anyone can live contemplatively without discipline, and that includes your local monk or nun. So, if I am going to live as a contemplative in the suburbs, I am going to have to structure my life, just as a monk or nun must structure his of her life. In both cases, the structure, while it will be different in detail, must be such that it provides regular nourishment for the contemplative dimension of life. This includes regular lectio, or spiritual reading, to undergird it and to challenge the way I am living."

Joan Chittister OSB, from The Monastic Way edited by: Hannah Ward & Jennifer Wild, p. 75