A friend in my swim class this morning recommended this show to me. She said I would really like it. I'm not so sure, but I'll try to catch an episode.

She characterized monastic life for me a little, based on what she saw in the show. The silence, the isolation, the work, the prayer.

"They pray like eight times a day!" she exclaimed, "Beginning at 4 in the morning!"

I'm like, "Yeah ... and ... what's your point?"

She thought it was a very selfish lifestyle.

"Rabbis and clergy, they are in the community, serving people. These guys are off, separate and apart, not helping anyone."

I said, "It takes all kinds. They pray for the world. I feel better knowing that they spend their day praying ... for us."

That's lots of things you could call it: lonely, irresponsible, dull, a waste of a human life. But selfish? That doesn't come immediately to my mind.