What’s in a Name? The Story Behind “Monk in Awe”
From the dawn of history, humanity has been preoccupied with naming things—objects, places, events, and people. Every new discovery or invention inevitably receives a name. In the Judaeo-Christian tradition, naming carries profound meaning. In the creation story, God speaks and calls each creature by a name, thus calling and naming become nearly inseparable. For those who hold fast to the Scriptures and follow the faith of Abraham, our names are not arbitrary labels pointing to an identity; our name expresses who we truly are as a person.
Why “Monk in Awe”?
Finding an outlet for my thoughts first came as a way to engage an active mind; a means by which I can concretize insights and cultivate personal potential. As a Cistercian-Trappist monk, public speaking and conferences are not part of our ordinary way of life, making writing the natural choice. While private journaling is ideal for life in the monastery, I knew I needed a gentle external force beyond myself to stay accountable and consistent—and that refers to you, my dear readers.
The title “Monk in Awe” refers simply to a monk who marvels as he gazes and penetrates the reality around him. Though I write from within the quiet rhythm of a monastery, the reflections that you will find in this corner of our publication are not meant to be read solely through a specialized monastic lens. Even when my perspective zooms in on cloistered life, the nucleus of these writings remains rooted in our shared, tangible human experience.
Okay… but why “in awe”? Surely, I could have used other verbs.
The very first lesson I learned from a dear philosophy professor, Br. Mark, was the capacity to wonder. He taught us that philosophy, more than heavy intellectualizing, is primarily about standing under awe of reality. Meaningful questions arise because someone first paused to marvel, and our answers are simply responses born out of that initial wonder.
Years have passed since then, and for me, being "in awe" is no longer just about framing questions. I have come to see that BECOMING AND BEING IN AWE is a path to seeing more clearly—perhaps even the sole path to truly seeing at all.1 Whether that is entirely true remains to be seen.