A
Athanasy
Guest
I attend services at a small Monastery with a few other lay people. Part of the hospitality of the Monastery is to feed the people after the services. A few of us have been asked to help prepare the meal. As more people began coming, it involved more time in the kitchen and I found myself missing part of the church services. When I asked the Abbess if it were possible to organize a system where more people could help, or if I could prepare something so I would be in church and not the kitchen, her answer puzzled me. She said it is greater to follow a monastic obedience, (being in the kitchen) and preparing food than to be in church. I understand this for a monastic, but I am not one. She said the goal is to be able to pray everywhere, whether it be the church or the kitchen or anywhere. We are called to serve, but this did not make sense to me.