Twin Bed or Full?

Channeling my ascetic inner Abba on the question of mattress size is rather like channeling the captain of a climate change rescue submarine. From this perspective, a full-size mattress is a waste of space and resources the church cannot afford to normalize for adult singles on an eco-spiritual mission to save the world from Gehenna and high water. Especially not for those who profess a vow of poverty. Hermits following a future "Rule of Jonathan" will need to stick to a twin-sized berth and aspire to no more than that! It's not regressive downsizing to go from a full-sized bed to a twin-sized bed if the eremitic vocation is genuine; it's adult vocational rightsizing.

Sister Laurel's deep insight, on the other hand, is helping me channel my complementary inner Amma. This Amma takes the needs of the climate change rescue submarine into account while bringing additional values and nuance to bear. For example, the full-size berth infrastructure of the mothership is already in place. Why overhaul it right now? Because my bedding situation is an abrupt climate change emergency? That is not rational! That is delusional anxiety, not steady state leadership. What about keeping the bedding I have for at least another year and budgeting extra gas money for weekly trips to Sunday Mass and catechumenate classes? What about an extra donation to one of my spiritual providers? What about replenishing my meager emergency cash cushion? Many more experienced and insightful hermits in my situation might choose to stay with the full-sized bed and make a higher-priority adjustment in some other area.

Taking all of this into account, I have decided to downsize from a full-sized bed to a twin-sized bed when I can properly afford to do so, not because every hermit should, but because in my situation, it's the right way to proceed.

All of this is by way of introduction to Chapter 22: The Sleeping Arrangements of the Monks at The Rule of Benedict: Reflections from Christian Meditators.