The monk and the knight

Yesterday I traveled to Sobrado dos Monxes, a small village in Galicia (Spain), to pay a visit to a very good and old friend who has decided to join a monastery and eventually become a monk. He has been a priest for already more than ten years, which means that this step is one more taken on his search for a deeper and more meaningful spirituality or, otherwise put, on his personal search for God and for the others. I found him happy and fulfilled, and that made me happy too. For me, on the other hand, it is time to depart again: first, in a couple of hours, to Lisbon and, then, back to the cold and grey Central Europe. Having the feeling of being constantly departing, I can't help envying the people who manage to stay. Even if within the walls of a monastery.