I’m curious to know Percy’s thoughts on the monastic life. His literature is filled with souls looking to find purpose in the everydayness of things, but what if someone checked out of everyday modernity in favor of the monastic?  Father Smith did this in The Thanatos Syndrome, and I wonder if Percy considered the life of a stylite the answer for those ready to commit to more than a Binx-like search.

When Tom Moore asks Father Smith why he became a priest, his response is simply “What else?” When pushed to elaborates he says that given the chance, one must choose life or death.

For centuries monastics have committed themselves to service, but once he was no longer able to serve the dying, Father Smith simply climbed to the top of a fire tower and wouldn’t come down. However, even in his seclusion he had a mission. He scanned the horizon looking for signs of trouble. When he found it, he triangulated the source and sounded an alarm. We all know that you can’t see the forest for the trees, but from Father Smith’s lofty heights he clearly saw the forest reach from hilltop to hilltop.

What I’m wondering if what happens after the search? What happens when we realize that we are pilgrims in a strange land? Should we do the best we can walking through the woods, or should we take to a tower ready to sound the alarm?

Tags: Father Smith, monastic, The Thanatos Syndrome

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