Discerning In Your Homeland

[Benedictus]

That's why he buys fancy sports cars -- he needs to have high-performance cars that won't break down after the first hundred thousand miles.

 

And I actually think he drove fifty thousand, not thirty.

 

I wouldn't mind a sports car.  I might give God a laugh and pray for one :saint2:

[Spem in alium]

That's why he buys fancy sports cars -- he needs to have high-performance cars that won't break down after the first hundred thousand miles.

 

And I actually think he drove fifty thousand, not thirty.

 

A reason as good as any.

 

Just as a side note, this is one of the nicest cars I've ever been in (BMW M3). It was pretty much this colour, too.  :heart: 
 

[LaPetiteSoeur]

It's not an absolute but yes, you should first look at what is in your own country. There are cultural differences that can have an impact on you more than you realize. Of course, this matters more or less depending on the person. It's something to be aware of and to think through. Even from Canada to the US there are cultural differences. One has to be prepared that you will assimilate something of the new culture and can't stay entirely aloof. Most communities are happy to have the enrichment of a new culture but they're not going to change who they are or where they live to accommodate you. God does provide the little things we need to integrate into the new culture. If you are entering a monastery that is another new culture, too!

 

Even in the US there are huge cultural differences. It's a BIG country! The south is very different from New England and CA is well, CA! :-)

 

Having said that, what really matters is where God is calling you. In leaving all to belong to God "family" in the same state is sometimes as far away as "family" in another country.

 

I would definitely second the cultural differences. I've lived in many convents, not as a sister but as a student in Europe and as a volunteer and friend in the US. In the US it was easier to get into the movement of the life of the convent, no matter how far away from home, because we all shared common cultural ideas. It was more difficult in Belgium and France. France was one of the hardest; even though I spoke the language, the sisters were predominately Spanish so not only was I trying to figure out French cultural differences, but Spanish ones as well! It led to some friction and I'm pretty sure one of the main sisters never quite figured me or my roommate (a French girl) out. 

 

It's doable, and it takes time--Belgium was so much easier for me, but i also knew the order of sisters already and it was a small convent--only two sisters! so it depends. But changing your life so dramatically with the change in language and country can be very very difficult. 

[marigold]

I am an advocate of starting where you are and working outwards from there. I did and it didn't do me any harm :hehe2:  and the community I eventually entered was on the other side of the Atlantic. Don't underestimate culture shock, especially between Anglophone countries. That said, I was going through an American cookbook the other day and seeing a pumpkin pie recipe brought back an unexpected flood of happy memories. If you go in with an open heart, willing to adapt, while also remembering that 'exile is a heavy work', I think God can do amazing things. I never regretted the experience of living and breathing another culture.