Ancient Christian Wisdom
for Everyday Life
Wisdom for those with the wild ambition of getting as close to Jesus as they can on earth and living the kind of life that God desires every single day
Welcome to the Daily Monastic. I’m Barnabas the Monastic.
I have a wild ambition in life: get as close to the Lord Jesus Christ as I can while on earth. I attempt to do that by learning to become a modern monastic. I explore and integrate ancient Christian monk wisdom in my modern everyday life. I write about it here. Feel free to write to me about your own journey. I currently reside in the “Great White North.”
Memorizing Scripture
I have a pretty bad memory. At least, that's what my wife says. Maybe she's right. But for several months now, I've been memorizing multiple Scripture verses each week. So far, I've managed to memorize over 170 verses of the Bible.
Getting Proper Amounts of Rest
Our physical bodies are valuable gifts given to us by God. It is through our bodies that we interact with our world. It is through our bodies that we relate to other people. It is through our bodies that we work and play. It is…
A Slower Pace of Life
I've had to frequently remind myself lately to "go a little slower" in life. It's not because I'm going through a crisis or a health issue. We often encourage overworked or aging family members to adopt a slower pace of life. The reason I'm hoping to go slower in life is…
Simple Acts of Kindness Will Do
Every Monday, I take out the trash for somebody else. I do this for an elderly woman who is completely bed-ridden. She lives by herself with her cat as a companion. Few people visit her. She has outlived her sons. Her grandson visits occasionally. PSWs come to take care of her a few times a day. But most of the time…
Sharing the Gospel through Prayer
How many of us get a bit intimidated when sharing our Christian faith with others? I know I personally do. God has called us to tell other people about Him. Towards the end of the book of Matthew, Jesus declared these words to…
Caring for Our Bodies
God has given us one life. And along with this one life comes one body. This life and body cannot be exchanged for another one while on earth. No matter what advancements are made in modern medicine, it will not change the fact that…
The Simple Gift of Prayer
One of the simplest gifts we can offer to somebody else is prayer. In fact, Christians should be known for giving away prayer left and right to people. The apostle Paul, in his first letter to Timothy, encouraged believers to pray for absolutely anybody and everybody. He wrote…
Waking Up Early with a Plan of Attack
In the previous blog post (see here), I wrote about waking up earlier so that a person can have extra dedicated time to spend with the Lord in prayer and meditation before the day begins and before everyone else gets up. It's a good idea if…
Waking Up Earlier
I spend anywhere from 3-4 hours per day engaging in spiritual practices as a modern monastic. As someone who has multiple responsibilities as a husband, father, and employee, it can be hard to find time throughout the day to actually do this. I seem to be on…
Saying Short Prayer for Others
I don't like saying long prayers for people. This might seem a bit strange to say outright given that I serve God as a pastor. Isn't praying for other people one of the main things I do? Now notice that I didn't say that I don't like to pray for other people. I certainly…