*** Matthew McConaughey had a ‘calling’ to become a monk | THE DAILY TRIBUNE | KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN

Matthew McConaughey had a ‘calling’ to become a monk

Bang Showbiz | Los Angeles

Email : editor@newsofbahrain.com

Matthew McConaughey planned to become a monk. The 55-year-old actor has revealed he initially decided to devote his life to God but a friend talked him out of the idea and he pursued a career in Hollywood instead because he would have squandered his “gift” for storytelling.

Matthew told the Guardian newspaper: “I believed my calling was to become a monk ... I would have made a good monk. I revere dedication, a life that dedicates itself to God, that sees God in every natural thing, at all times ...

“I had long talks about it with a Benedictine monk friend of mine who’s now an abbot at a monastery, and he said: ‘Nononononononoonono, you’re a communicator, you’re a storyteller, do not go to live a hermetic life. You need to communicate and tell stories.

“That is a gift you have been given. Do not dampen that gift or put a blanket on that gift by becoming a monk or hermit’.”

Matthew went on to explain his Christian faith has been challenged at times and he turned to writing poetry as his way of making sense of the world.

He explained: “I found myself looking at the world around me and not finding evidence of things I want to believe in.

“I didn’t want to quit believing, but I was looking at how we’re treating each other, the low barometer of trust, and there seemed to be a sense of win at any cost. It doesn’t matter how you did it, just win.