I will never forget my first visit to a monastery. I was travelling through Kentucky for a speaking engagement and made a short visit to Gethsemani Abbey, the Trappist monastery where Thomas Merton was a monk.

On that first visit, I entered the guesthouse where a monk paused from playing jazz on a saxophone to gaze at me and ask, “Are you here to visit or to stay?” I laughed as I responded that I didn’t think my wife would take kindly to my staying.

Encountering a monk playing jazz on a saxophone was the first of many surprises that I’ve experienced at monasteries.

The stereotype that many have of monks, dour ascetics who hate the world as part of their devotion to God, is far from the reality of monastic life. On subsequent visits to monasteries, I have met some of the most balanced, intelligent and witty individuals I’ve ever known.

Consequently, when I first sensed that our country missed important spiritual lessons in our responses to 9/11, I knew who to ask for guidance.

That book project, which culminated in “Peace Be with You: Monastic Wisdom for a Terror-Filled World,” took me to monasteries, convents and retreat centers across the country.

In the more than 30 interviews that I conducted, only once did a monk repeat an insight from another monk. So much for the notion that monks and nuns all think alike.

In the years following that project, I continued to benefit from visits to monasteries.

Consequently, when the pandemic hit and visiting was impossible or unwise, I missed the quiet, solitude and reflection that I’d found within those communities.

But I have found other ways to stay connected with monastic spirituality.

In addition to the many books written by monks and nuns, the internet now offers virtual visits to monasteries all over the world. Typing in “monastery” or “monastic life” into a search engine brings up numerous monastic sites where a curious person can spend as little as three minutes or as long as two hours to experience the wisdom in monasteries.

I share this and remind myself of these opportunities because it’s clear that 2024 will be one of the most fraught years in our nation’s history.

No matter where we are on the political spectrum, we all share a heightened sense of anxiety about the future. It is no exaggeration to say that fear stalks our country and our world.

Whether it’s Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Gaza, China and Taiwan, the upcoming presidential campaigns, or issues of immigration and continued racism, there are so many worse-case scenarios that trouble our minds.

We are in desperate need of ways to calm our minds because we will undoubtedly face crises in the months ahead.

I am not implying that actual or virtual visits to monasteries offer an escape from the world.

But instead of Fox News, CNN and MSNBC, which stir up anger and worry to a fever pitch, monasteries offer a different climate where we can face what we have to face.

Part of the healing that monasteries offer comes from the silence and chant that lead us back from fear and worry to our deeper centers. From that deeper center, we can let go of the desire to be in control.

Over the next months, we will all be assaulted by so many voices shouting at us to worry about one concern after another. The gift of the monastery visit, be it in person or virtually, is this simple but profound invitation: “Be here, present in this minute, just here.”

David Carlson of Franklin is a professor emeritus of philosophy and religion. Send comments to [email protected].