Part II
Why simply wipe out modern-day monastic communities from possibility simply because our lifestyles potentially look very different today than they did a thousand years ago? I do not think that a monastic lifestyle was a normal expression of life to anyone until they joined one! Perhaps there was more in the Celtic or Roman culture that facilitated this type of community, but it was definitely not the standard lifestyle of the day, and therefore meant change, and choices for everyone – even then. Therefore, just because we do not currently live in monastic communities or live lifestyles that allow blocks of time for evangelism does not mean that we should not live that way. Before we simply dismiss modern-day monastic communities from the realm of possibilities, let us first consider what it might look life if attempted!
Let us explore how it would look to live in a monastery-like community. 
Celtic Christians did not retreat from society to create solitude and secrecy, but instead went to the places where people were – they went to the villages and towns. But instead of simply living intermingled with them, they chose, as teams, as groups of 10 or more people, to live together in a village-within-a-village. They had walls around their monastery – not to keep people out, but to denote something different, a break from the culture. Within their community there were homes of hospitality where guests were welcomed in and cared for. There were certain individuals within the monastery who were responsible for welcoming and taking care of guests. Meals were shared communally, as were many forms of prayer and worship. Perhaps building homes and putting walls around them is not incredible feasible in our context today, but why couldn’t we gather together 10 families, couples, or individuals and move into an apartment complex together? Or into a new housing development?
The way the church often looks now is that there is a single Christian family living in the midst of an apartment complex, or in a cul-de-sac, but it is difficult to live a different kind of community independent of others being in your community! What if five families moved together into a cul-de-sac and chose to live life differently together? What if five or ten couples moved into an apartment complex and chose to live life differently together? Wouldn’t this be the beginning of a modern-day monastic community?
Now let us take a moment and explore the possibilities of what life could look like today in a way that encapsulates the Celtic Christian’s five-fold approach to life. To refresh our memory, these folds are: 1 – voluntary periods of solitary isolation, 2 – communicating with a “soul friend” – a peer with whom you were vulnerable and accountable (to whom you confessed and who supported and challenged you), 3. small group interaction (groups of 10 or less) led by a devoted disciple of Jesus, 4 – participation in “common life” (meals, work, learning, bible recitation, prayers, and communal worship), and 5 – ministry and witness to non-Christians (through small group, soul friend, or communal life).
So five families move into cul-de-sac together, determined to live life in a communal way, not just as neighbors, but as a church, as the family of God, and as one unit. They decide that as an intentional community there are a few things that are important to them. They decide on certain “expected” practices of: honest friendship (where confession, encouragement, and correction occur in a safe relationship); small groups (where together they are learning how to better follow Jesus – if there are only 5 families, it may simply be one small group); communal activities (meals – maybe just dinners, daily worship and prayer times, hospitality to strangers, bible story sharing, etc); and spiritual disciplines (such a silence and solitude).
It may sound complicated and difficult, but it definitely doesn’t sound impossible! It may look a whole lot different than Celtic monastic life, but maybe that’s ok.