Monastic life is not really about self-realization, in the immediate sense of these words: it is far more about self-transcendence. These are noble words, but the reality they describe is a lifetime of feeling out of one’s depth: confused, bewildered, and not a little affronted by the mysterious ways of God. This is why those who persevere and are buried in a monastic cemetery can rarely be described as perfectly integrated human beings. ~Michael Casey, OSB, from Strangers to the City: Reflections on the Beliefs and Values of the Rule of Saint Benedict, (2005), p.4.