As a pilgrim walks along a road he sees some men working on a stone building. 

“You look like a monk,” the pilgrim said. 
“I am that,” said the monk. 
“Who is that working on the abbey?” 
“My monks. I’m the abbot.” 
“It’s good to see a monastery going up,” said the pilgrim. 
“They’re tearing it down,” said the abbot. 
“Whatever for?” asked the pilgrim. 
“So we can see the sun rise at dawn,” said the abbot.

My Commentary: 

This little story turns on a holy surprise. The pilgrim assumes the monks are building something permanent, impressive, and visible. But the abbot reveals they are tearing it down — not out of contempt for the past, but out of hunger for the light.

That is the spiritual pivot of a life. We spend years stacking stones: habits, reputations, routines, possessions, arguments we will not release, fears we keep like walls. Some of those stones once protected us. Some were laid with good intentions.

But what begins as shelter can quietly become a shadow. And then the soul grows dim, not because God stopped shining, but because we built too high in front of the dawn.

The abbot’s line is not about architecture. It is about orientation. He is saying: we will remove anything that blocks our first sight of what is true. We will choose wonder over weight. We will trade the comfort of enclosure for the risk of openness. We will not worship the structure meant to serve the Spirit.

There is also humility here. Tearing down is harder than building because it admits that something we made no longer fits what we most need. Yet the goal is simple and radiant: “So we can see the sun rise at dawn.”

Not just sunlight, but first light — the kind that resets the heart, restores perspective, and whispers, “Begin again.”

Sometimes the most faithful construction is a courageous demolition, so the day can enter you before anything else does.

What monastery do YOU need to tear down from this past year so that YOU too can see the sunrise at dawn in 2026?

SUNRISES ARE HELLOS FROM GOD! YOU ARE ALIVE TO ENJOY ANOTHER DAY!

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