Yep, was cool, had a bit of an adventure in December. Had the opportunity to stay in a Greek monastery, wife was happy to look after little man for solo until her parents arrived. I don't speak Greek -- at all -- but the experience was amazing. One of the monks there was an American, so he and I had some good chats. One of the amazing things was that even though his religious beliefs are so different from my own, what I am learning in the Fellowship equipped me to be able to have real conversations with him.

The monks there LITERALLY try and pray all the time. One guy was just opening a cardboard box and praying and I watched another one just walking across the courtyard doing the same. While it's not in keeping with the Traditions to give the wording of the prayer on here, suffice to say, it is not at all far removed from what the BB tells us that we should be saying "thy will, not mine, be done" many times. Similarly, the American monk and I talked about pride, etc. a lot. Most interestingly, he also said that the essence of the monk's existence is to deny his own will and do the will of God as the understand him. Sounded familiar to me! :)

I'm adapting the prayer they use to fit in with my own HP and their own techniques. It really works.

The monks do have some wine on feast days, though there was no problem at all in declining.

Just goes to show that this Fellowship can really send us to a different dimension. I never would have had the appreciation of my visit/adventure w/out this Fellowship. Heck, I would never have had that adventure in the first place, would instead have been in the pub!