The monastery has often been likened to a powerhouse of prayer, providing light and energy for the countless numbers who make up the Body of Christ. This image has inadvertently furthered the view of monasticism as separate from the rest of the Chruch, apart from the cares and concerns of the world. Francis Kline holds out a fresh vision of the monastic life as one form of the Christian vocation which now must struggle to find its place alongside other expressions of Christian life.
