For the man responsible for the spiritual well being of 30 monks, the daily work of remaining on course starts early. Very early. "I set the alarm for 5 a.m., but usually get up at 3:30 or 4 a.m.," a full two hours before the monk is called to prayer. "I need the additional quiet time." In accordance with Benedict's Rule, the day will be punctuated by remembrance, five scheduled gatherings for community prayer, and two scheduled times for private meditation. In between the abbot's work, like that of his monks, may be completely scheduled: problems to be solved, letters to write, classes to teach, meetings to attend, meetings to conduct, visits to the aged and infirm. Still, much of his energy "goes to those things I have not planned." Here Ben Franklin meets Saint Benedict, and guess who wins? "Saint Benedict writes in his Rule that 'the divine presence is everywhere.' This means that every moment is an opportune moment that is meant to be: nothing is mundane or stupid when you realize the holiness of every moment. What happens, happens for a reason. My vocation is the interruptions."

"Whether God thinks I'm balanced or not I don't know," he concedes. But place what they will  upon his casket, one has a very good idea which book this monk will carry to his grave.

Elizabeth Fouts, Associate Professor of Spanish Studies
"Which comes first? Our desire for balance or the chaos of life that makes us seek it? Did we have balance as children and now seek to find it again? Are some people better at it than others?" These are a professor's questions. And a mother's.

Elizabeth Fouts began teaching Spanish in the college's Modern Languages Department in 1993 after finishing her Ph.D. at the University of Texas. In those ten years she has brought many Saint Anselm students a richer appreciation of the language and culture of Spain, in her classroom and on numerous summer study tours that she has developed and led on her own. The mother of two children, she parcels her life and energies between home and work, scholarship and teaching, husband and children, and between Spain and America. And when volunteer work and singing in her parish choir don't offer all the fulfillment she seeks, she takes on something else like, say, running her first-ever marathon two years ago in Austin, Texas.

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