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.”
Spiritual Exercises while Waiting
The other day, I was at the doctor's for an appointment. Nothing serious. Just a routine checkup for some new circumstances in life. Everyone who has ever stepped foot into a doctor's clinic knows that there's one thing that is sure to happen every single time: you are going to wait. I don't think I've ever…
Ora et Labora
People are usually a little astounded and their curiosity is piqued when I mention that I spend anywhere from 3-4 hours per day communing with the Lord in prayer. I know a lot of believers who also have this desire to spend ample and appropriate amounts of time with the Lord each and every day. I hear it from…
God’s Timing
God's timing is always right. We believe this—on an intellectual and theological level at least. We know that God is the wisest person out there. We believe that He sees and knows everything. He's well aware of…
Join a Prayer Meeting
In this blog, I advocate a lot for spending ample amounts of time connecting with God in personal times of prayer, reading Scripture, worship, and contemplation each and every day. I believe each of us needs to…
Blessed are Those who Die in the Lord
Like most people, I don't like talking about death. I don't even like thinking about it. But here I am writing about it. Although physical death is the inevitable conclusion for all those who live on earth (unless Christ returns), we don't like…
Journaling Tip: Use a Slim Notebook
I have a box full of journals. That's because I've been journaling for more than two decades. If you peer into that box, you'll find dozens upon dozens of used notebooks. There's another reason why I have so many individual notebooks…
Seeing Progress with Prayer
Do you know what keeps me motivated to consistently do certain things in life? One word: progress. Seeing progress happen is a key motivator to becoming consistent with pretty much anything in life. Seeing progress in…
Jesus as Our Model for Prayer
If you're looking for a model of what a genuine prayerful life looks like, you don't have to look any further than to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He's the greatest example of a prayerful person. Jesus, being God the Son, exemplified what…
Alternatives to Journaling?
Several weeks ago, I had the wonderful chance to share about my modern monastic journey to a group of people. One person in the group had a really good question: "Are there any alternatives to journaling?" I've been…
Split Up the People You Pray for
I have a lot of extended relatives. This is because both sets of grandparents in my family had numerous children. My dad has eight siblings. My mom has five. That's a lot of uncles and aunts. And most of them have children. This means…