E-vangie Tale – Edge #1 “Monk Stew”

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(An Interview with Brother Will)

I recently spent 3 days and 2 nights at Mount Calvary Monastery on top of a mountain over-looking Santa Barbara to get some much needed rest. This is a Benedictine Monastery and the “Brothers” are of “The Order of the Holy Cross” which numbers about 40 men who live in various homes in the U.S. and Canada. Their Order is an offshoot of the Episcopal church.

I interviewed Brother William (Will) Brown, a very polite and engaging 80 year-old Englishman:

(Comments in brackets [ ], are when I put down my pen and recalled from memory.)

*
Steve: How did you become a monk?

Will: I grew up in a Methodist family in England where we lived in a rowhouse. My sisters’ peers were Anglo-Catholics who would do research for their college papers by visiting an active monastery in Northern England. They were always so beautiful. My Dad would always say, “Those monks always knew where to live.” Always in the back of my mind, I thought about the monastic life.

I had become an Episcopalian at age thirty. I met a monk after church and asked to visit the monastery where he lived. I visited it many times. At age fifty I entered the monastic life.

S: You said you were single for fifty years, was there a reason?

W: Yes. I’m a gay man.

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My Great Evangelism Adventure, Part 5: “Little Comfort”

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They turn it over in their hands, smile and ask, “What is it? Where did you get it? Is it legal?” It then gets passed on to the next person. They smile too… (Click here to start at Part 1 of “My Great Evangelism Adventure.”)

I rarely hand out gospel tracts. Why? I hate to contribute to the littering problem. Most are just plain boring and didactic. Ugly. Old school. Ahhh, but this one people like. They want it and read it. They give it to their friends. I have given out nearly a hundred in just over a week.

The bald and tattooed Mexican guy, arm coiled around his girlfriend, gave a hard look to me as they walked by. I never blinked. Neither did he. “Excuse me,” I said.

Eyes narrowed as he slowly turned to stare me down.

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E-vangie Tales # 63 Through the Wall

E-vangie Tales

Talk about a thankless job.

The poor salesguy stood outside the store with his pitiful wares and tried to grab the attention of all passers-by. I was not interested but stopped to listen to his pitch. Maybe I could interest him in what I had to sell – for free…

“Do you do much dry cleaning?” he asked.

“Umm, maybe once a month…”

“This is a great deal!” he said enthusiastically. “You get $130.00 worth of dry-cleaning for only $40.00!”

Wow! A discounted dry-cleaning card! What a concept. How could anyone resist such a deal? A discounted dry-cleaning carrrrrrrrd!!! “Uhhh, no thanks.”

Dressed in shorts and Hawaiian shirt, the huckstering middle-aged Beach Boy said, “Okay then,” as he craned his neck looking for customers.

Man, no one is going to buy one of those, I don’t care how nice and friendly he is. Okay…time to rain on this guy’s parade. Let’s see if he’ll continue to be so polite when I tell him about Jesus. Should I tell him about Jesus? This period of time – deciding to give the Gospel or not – is called “The Wall of Faith.” Every person has to break down a wall in their minds and walk through it by faith to talk about salvation.

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