Universalism and Christianity

I know there is an approach here in the USA that one needs to be open
to all options.That is considered more sophisticated and cool. One of
the effect this has had on spirituality is that so many flit from this
to that and over there and under that, without ever going any deeper
than superficially because something else has come along. The idea of
sinking deep and deeper into one thing gets laughed at.

What saddens me is that for so many Christians around me, they find
Jesus insufficient. It has to be Jesus Plus something... be it
vegetarianism, magic, rejection of any notions which don't fit their
preferences for warm fuzzies spiritual experience.

I guess this is what has attracted me to Benedictine monasticism.
Benedict writes of "stability", of staying in one place, one
monastery. Not traveling hither and yon all over the place looking
for the Next Big Thing or going on yet another retreat or buying the
latest new prayerbook. But of sticking with one place and letting it
sink into one's marrow, allowing the Gospel and the Scriptures to
remake and remold us into better mirrors to reflect back to God His
image and likeness.

I can't speak knowledgeably of any other culture, but this stability
is as opposite the cultural norms of the USA as it can get. Many
people interpret it as a refusal to consider something new whereas I
view it as choosing to be completed in one area before going on to
something else. There is nothing better under the sun than Jesus
Christ as revealed to us in Scriptures, Creeds and the teachings of
the apostles and those who followed in the apostolic teaching. I can
think of nothing more wonderful than to place one's self in the hands
of the living God and following in the footsteps of those who for
millenia have showed us what happens when we let God, Father, Son and
Holy Spirit do as He would.

So many people here in the USA want short cuts. I know many who want
the fruits but without spending the years of work that develop them.
Yes, Thomas Merton had meaningful dialogue with those form the East,
but only after how many decades of saturation in prayer, Scripture,
liturgy, study first? The prep work takes time and trust that God
knows what he is doing.