The narrator is an entirely fictional character. This character is not directly based on any individual or group of individuals. I have occasionally wondered how a cloistered monk or nun deals with the inevitable engagement with life outside the monastery that is required of an abbot or abbess. I have never had the courage to ask, so I created this fictional character to answer to my question. 

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 My goal has always been to stay in the background, to do my part, to be one of the guys. I never, in all my life, sought the spotlight. I always preferred to be left alone and in silence. That is the life I chose, and the solemn vow I made.

But now, this. Whose idea was it, anyway? Someone always has to have a great idea. When my solemnly professed brothers elected me to be the Abbot, I had no idea what had happened. No one talked to me about this. I felt I could not refuse the brothers' decision. That refusal would set my will against my vow of duty and obedience. I had no choice but to accept the election as His will expressed through the ballots cast by the brothers. At Vespers the night before the election, we prayed for guidance, and perhaps it was with His guidance my brothers cast their votes.

I pray for His guidance every day since I have become the abbot. I am blessed to have the more earthly guidance of Brother John, our former abbot. Just after this morning's silence he prodded me to complete my passport application today. I will need a passport to attend our order's conference in Spain next year. I find that task annoying, because I have never had a desire to travel. I came here to spend my life on this piece of land, and I expect to be buried here. A three week trip to our order's meeting in Spain is required of all abbots, so I shall go to Spain and meet with the abbots who, like me, diligently abstain from unnecessary speech.

Perhaps I will be glad of that excursion when its time arrives. My brothers feel compelled to share their daily difficulties with me in great detail. I have always been observant and conscious of my brothers' moods. This level of awareness is a necessity for survival in a community like ours. After all, living in a monastery offers all the challenges getting along faced by married people, except I am married to twenty-three.

Now that they have made me the abbot, the brothers rightfully feel entitled to discuss their difficulties with me whenever they have an unhappy day. This is tiresome.

I must accept my fate as my duty. This is my reward for gaining esteem sufficient to be elected abbot.