My first experience of religious life was in a Benedictine community in Kentucky. I worked and lived there as a volunteer during the summer before my senior year of college. The monastery was a collection of several buildings. The only air-conditioned space was the chapel building.
Where I live now it is the opposite: everywhere is cooled except for the chapel and church.
Whether it's summer in rural Kentucky or the humid Hudson valley, where the cooler air can be found makes a difference for spiritual practice and prayer.
LOL! Interesting that you should write this in...AUGUST : ) Father Charles, I know exactly what you mean. I personally like humid weather, but don't like hot temperatures. And it really does affect the temperment and ability to focus. There is a reason Shakespear set Romeo and Juliet in a hot Tuscan summer. Tempers flare, passions overcome sensibilities, and you just can't wear ermine...
ReplyDeleteAhahahahah!
ReplyDeleteThat's why in the past they built such beautiful churches with huge rocks so that inside it was always cool in Summer and warm in Winter! ;)