In this video, published by the Genesee Abbey on YouTube, the B-roll narrator speaks softly while soothing music scans over images of old barns or deer in a field of long grass. The narrator describes the serenity of nature and the fraternal love shared by the monks at the Abbey of the Genesee.

The video then begins to take a slight turn as the images start to show monks in the bread-making facility, operating heavy machinery in a warehouse-type environment. The words “reverent labor” used by the video’s narrator seem antithetical to our own perceptions about typical warehouse labor.

The video is extremely well-done, showing that there is an appreciation by the strict observers for technology and mechanization. I think my own misconceptions about monasteries will be proven wrong along the course of the semester; although the monks spend a lot of time in contemplative prayer and silence, it doesn’t mean they are totally disconnected from modern technology or living in the stone ages. I think it would be interesting to speak to them in the coming weeks about their relationship to the outside world, as we discussed in class last week. Do they see themselves as totally separate from the larger community? How does their bread making business differentiate them from other monasteries which seek seclusion from the larger community? Can’t wait to find out the answers to these questions, although I do expect them to vary from monk to monk.