Into the presence of God

Like many of us, I find Sister Joan's observations on the Rule inspired. She finds life in the Rule—rules for living, offering such clarity of thought—ideas that simply elude me. Today's writings, April 25, offer many beautiful illustrations.

Drawing on Benedict's admonitions to those who returned to the monastery after traveling, Sister Joan reminds us that we too need to consciously call ourselves into the presence of God, ever reminding ourselves of the purpose of our lives. The world around us is not an evil place—but our eyes and actions are unconstrained, unless we always act and speak through Him—we must be ever mindful of His presence.

Sister Joanne makes this point in such a human way when she says,

"Life costs.  The values and kitsch and superficiality of it take their toll on all of us. No one walks through life unscathed."  

She invites us to put it all into God's hands. And that whatever happens, we remember to start over and over and over again until someday we control life more than it controls us.

How are we to do this? We are to live in the present—mindful of our behavior—and recognize the consequences of our actions and our wandering minds. How do we do this? Hold that question in your hand until you see that you and He are one.

It is a task of a lifetime....

We are called...

Sister Joan Chittister quotes Dietrich Bonhoffer, who writes "there is a meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler". Sister Joan discusses this aspect of chapter 61 of the rule The Reception of Visiting Monastic.

Benedict realized that visitors are not only welcomed fed and taken care of, but they give each of us the opportunity to learn from the traveler—to learn from their experiences. Joan refers to this as a kind of radical acceptance—wisdom welcomed from any direction.

And so we are call to learn and teach at every moment in our lives-never to close ourselves off in every moment of every day.

Benedictine spirituality never requires perfection. It does, however, demand effort and openness.

Root Mother

I do not see you as much as I feel you– know you, the way I know my bones hold me upright as I walk, or the pressure of bare feet on cool grass. You, Root Mother, draw my eyes downward to the earth, where the heart of life beats, the deep throb beneath all the distractions we call life. Root Mother, yes, that is the best name I can give you, although your true name sounds more like water over stone or the creak of growing corn. Some truths are hidden, tucked away in the holy darkness, far from my dissecting mind, yet I know they are there, safe in your hands. Who says I must understand something fully in order to celebrate it– even to be held by it? You call me back to the center of my own being, a space much lower than any lofty thoughts of my mind, where you wait with divine patience. I will never begin to know the truth of my own body until I rest in the rich darkness of yours, and for this grace I thank you. ~Stuart Higginbotham

Eyes softened...

 Sr. Joan reminds us Benedictine life is rooted in three dimensions: commitment to a community, fidelity to a monastic way of life, and obedience. However, you and I are to pursue Benedictine spirituality, and we are called to continue to carry out our part in the society in which we live while helping mold, polish and temper it to the teachings of Benedictine.

We are called to see the world tempered by the gospel message; we listen for God's voice echoing daily in our thoughts, and in the voice of those around us. Benedictine spirituality is rewriting who we are and how we are respond to the world. 

We trust to the community of Saints and Benedict's teaching for the leadership essential to live in this most challenging world. We remain aware of the daily challenges, but we are equally bound to Benedict's call to live a new life. A new life that begins anew with sunrise...mindful that all we have are gifts from Him.

We are asked...

Benedict and Sr. Joan ask us to re-order our values, our priorities and our lives. As we evolve spiritually, we are invited to examine our deepest self~who we are~what we want~how we live~how we speak.  In time, we will see the world differently. We will respond to the world differently.

We are invited to live every day every moment with purpose and meaning~never living on impulse~responding to hapless circumstances~blown about by the changing winds of our lives. Sister Joan summarizes this well when she points out that life is not easy and life is not to be lived as if it were.

This truly is an important insight for all of us. We must actively seek to develop the rigor it takes to live our lives through the gospel lens. It requires constant fidelity to our purpose~even when we fail.

We are invited....

 --To pay attention to what is important in our lives.--

In Benedict's day, the monastic was provide with everything they needed.  Private ownership was a vice not to be tolerated.  Today, each of us are invited to pay attention to what we really need to live the sacred life to which all of us are called.

Sr. Joan recognizes this by reminding us that when we are smothered by things we become truly blind to those things that are important to us and those whom we love and for whom we are called to care.

Benedictine spirituality seeks to free the body so that the soul can soar.  A gift long lost in a consumer society.

It seems so simple or maybe even silly, but the key for most of us is self-control--and in community--compassion.  Benedictine spirituality is a practice that invites us to live a life where we are not the focus of our lives.  We are here to serve and listen to His word in all we do.

The Earth Laughs with Flowers

As a devout practitioner of our faith, Sr. Joan has a deep understanding of our faith traditions.  Chapter 15 speaks to The Times for Saying Alleluia.  The title of today's post is Sr. Joan's quote from Emerson.  What a beautiful way to think about our use of Alleluia--our proclamation of joy.  Sr. Joan reminds us that we truly are an Easter people and Alleluia is our cry.

Even life in hot fields and drab offices and small houses is somehow one long happy thought when God is its center, and blessings, however rare, however scant, are blessed.

We simply must learn to surrender into His hands--making Him the center of our lives! 

Two unfailing realities....

At the break of dawn, every day of the week, Benedict, through his organization of the morning, psalms, reminds the monastic of two unfailing realities.

Life is hard and we will struggle; and, having survived the week, saved one more time God.  We are under the shelter of his wings.

 

 

 We are his.

Two pockets...

 Each of us should have two pockets, the rabbi teaches. In one should be the message, "I am dust and ashes." And in the other, we should have written, "For me the universe was made."

In one way or another, Benedict reminds us daily that we are broken yet we are made for God. It is in God's greatness that in dependence on Him we survive.  He calls us to live under the shelter of his wings. This is life's journey, it struggles and it's glories. 

Joan reminds us that sometimes it is difficult to remember, when days are dull, and the schedule is full, that God has known the depth of our emptiness, yet heals our broken selves regardless.

God, by His Grace, will prevail 
and in doing so will enable us to prevail. 

Something fresh everyday

If you follow the daily office closely, you will find that there is an element of freshness every day. The prayers and patterns are concentrated and contemplative. Benedict encourages us to listen as well as recite.

Pay particular attention to the Sabbath as a moment of returning to the surety and solemnity of life, for setting our sights above the daily, for restating the basics, giving meaning to the rest of the week. Yes, reinforced through repetition.

Live your life without exageration

Fill your bowl to the brim and it will spill. Keep sharpening your knife and it will blunt. Chase after money and security and your heart will never unclinch. Care about people's approval and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to security.

The movement to pray...

The movement to prey is the movement of God in our souls. Our ability to pray depends on the power and the place of God in our life--we pray because God attracts us, and we pray only because God is attracting us. We are not, in other words, even the author of our own prayer life. It is the goodness of God, not any virtue that we have developed on our own, that brings us to the heart of God.

Sister Joan challenges us with this notion. Many of us would like to believe that we have such great insight into the world, into the universe, that we can author our own prayers. But if we look closely at the words that we choose, at the elements of our life that draw our attention, at the goodness that we seek to accomplish, we suddenly realize that these are not our works alone. 

I believe he is the author of these actions; the author of these prayers. He authors these so that we might see what he desires for us, and in time, I believe we act with Him motivated by his love for us and His love for the world in which we live.

Many of these prayers come from deep within us, that is true. But so He resides deep within us. He is the very heart of our soul, the soul of our lives. Once we embrace this, once we accepted this, then I think the conversation begins. Prayer life, grounded in faith, conversation with him growing daily.

Among the sayings...

Among the sayings of the Desert fathers, there is a story that may explain Benedict's terse and clear instructions on prayer:

One of the disciples asked Abba Agathon, "among all good works, which is the virtue that requires the greatest effort?" Abba Agathon answered, "I think there is no labor greater than that of prayer to God. For every time we want to pray, our enemies, the demons, want to prevent us, for they know that it is only by turning us from prayer that they can hinder our journey."

Once we fully understand this, I believe we will begin to see the world much more clearly; we will begin to understand the recurring and simple prayers of the taize singers.  Open your hearts, minds, ears to listen and to speak to Him every moment of every day.  

He is there and He wants to talk to you. 

 

The twelfth step....

The 12th step of humility is that we always manifest humility in our bearing, no less than in our hearts, so that it is evident at the Opus Dei, in the oratory, the monastery or the garden, or on a journey, or in the field, or anywhere else. 

I  invite you to listen closely to Sr. Joan.

To be truly humble is to simply measure ourselves without exaggeration. Humility is the ability to know ourselves as God knows us and to know that it is the little we are that is precisely our claim on God.

Humility is, then, the formation of our relationship with God, our connectedness to others, our acceptance of others, our way of using the goods of the Earth, and is our way of walking through the world, without arrogance, without domination, without scorn, without put-downs, without distain, without self-centeredness. The more we know ourselves, the gentler we will be with others.

God knows us for who we are. If we accept this, and if we accept that God is within us, we will grow closer to him every day.

We must not lose sight of this simple idea that we are indeed one with Him.  Resting in his arms, we will grow. Times will be hard and times will be joyful, but He is ever present. 

Go in peace to love and serve the Lord. 

 

The eleventh step....the wise are known by few words....

 ....tread tenderly upon the life around us....

If we truly know our place in this world, we can easily afford to make room for others.  We do not need to dominate conversations and insist on our own way--there is room in life for all of us.

God can be God for all of us because we have relieved ourselves of the ordeal of being God ourselves. We simply unfold and become. 

Step 10...do not be confused...

Do not be confused. Benedict is not asking us to be such stoic that we never smile or laugh. He wants us to recognize that life is serious and that we are called to honor our ourselves and the world in which we live. He wants us to be in control of ourselves at all times, never threatening others.

A humble person handles the presence of the other with soft hands, a velvet heart, and an unveiled mind – even your enemies.

Step 9...

How many times have we heard it said, We have two ears and one mouth. It is a message!  Once again, Sister Joan frames it beautifully.

When arrogance irrupt anywhere, it erupt invariably in speech. Our opinions become the rule. Our ideals become the goal. Our judgments become the norm. Our word becomes the last word, the only word.

Humility is what allows each of us to learn from one another and grow daily in our knowledge of Him and the many gifts we have been given. 

Step 8....stay in the stream of life....

In step 8 of humility, Sr, Joan introduces the idea of true grow.  It really is too simple to become a law onto ourselves. When we do, it leaves this little chance to live and grow with others. 

Without others, we deny ourselves the chance for real growth. Our simple ideas block our minds to the richest to be found in the wider world. Our communities have a great deal to offer if we are but willing to listen.

Step 7....humble in my own eyes....

Only by being humble in my own eyes – can I see my true place in this Your world – thank You for this gift!

There is a most profound reality to step seven of humility. Sr. Joan summarizes it beautifully.

Aware of our own meager virtues, conscious of our own massive failures, despite all our great efforts, all our fine desires, we have in this degree of humility, this acceptance of our ourselves, the chance to understand the failure of others. We have here the opportunity to be kind.

If we have but one prayer every day, let it be to be kind, gentle, loving. In this way, we can be his hands in this world.  

Awake – it is your time!

Step 6....

 Living with excess leads us to lose our true sense of place
in the world.

Sister Joan remind us that Benedict says that life is not about amassing things but to get the most out of whatever little we have. If we can learn to love life where we are, and what we have, then we will have room in our souls for what life alone does not offer--the creator within.

The 5th step.

We must first reveal to ourselves who we really are. We cannot grow until we do.

This is a very disarming idea. Many of us are are simply not prepared to face up to who we really are. Benedict however, reminds us that we must confront who we are if we want to grow.  For when we accept this truth, we will find that we can let go and give Him control.  We will be able to surrender. 

They will be done!

 

The 4th step. Life is dificult

M. Scott Peck, M.D. in his book The Road Less Traveled opens by saying...

Life is difficult.

Yes, this may seems a bit silly but at it deepest meaning it is insight worth embracing.  In the fourth step of humility, Benedict calls on us to recognize that we will be confronted by...

...difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, where our hearts must quietly embrace suffering, and endure it without weakening or seeking escape.

On first reading, this may seem so foreign, so unrealistic – that we must even remotely consider accepting such conditions. But in time, we will realize one of the most important lessons of life – it really isn't all about us.

We frequently cling to our own ways, refusing to confront and accept the reality of life. But there are a great many essential and positive lessons to be learned from these trials.  They are not to be ignored.

Sister Joan reminds us that in this degree of humility, we must hold on when things do not go our way, for we must learn to...

...withstanding the storms of life rather than having to flail and flail agaist the wind and, as a result, lose the opportunity to control ourselves when there is nothing else in life we can control.

Yes, yes, I understand.  This is so easy to say.  But we must persist!  We must persevere!  We must endure!  We must learn to live this life for Him!  It really is not all about us. 

 

The 3rd Step. We are called to submit!

Benedict understands that this task of listening for and hearing the word of God can be a bit complicated. Joan summarizes it by simply saying we must be willing to submit ourselves to the wisdom of others. We're not the last word, the final answer, the clearest insight into anything.

We are but one word among many. Humility lies in learning to listen to the words, directions, and insights of those around us who are a voice of Christ for us today.  These are the relationships of which sanctity is made.  Invite Him to join with you, walk with you, and listen for His word in the other.

The 2nd Step. Born to do His Will

...we shall imitate by our actions that saying of Christ's: "I have come not to do my own will, but he will of the One who sent me"

Have all of us been born to do His will?

We are His.  We are such willful creatures. Our eyes and our hearts flip from one desire to another. Is it even possible to steal our minds to the point that we can even hear God's will for us?

Sister Joan asks 

"how do we tell the world of God from our own? How do we know when to resist the tide and confront the opposition and when to embrace the pain and except the bitterness because "God will it for us."

I believe the answer lies and our willingness, and our ability to listen quietly for his voice. For his will. 

It will come to us as a gentle nudge or maybe even a shove. If we're willing to listen. 

Humility

Sister Joan makes it quite clear....

...if the preservation of the globe in the 21st century requires anything of the past at all, it may well be the commitment of the rule of Benedict to humility.

Let us begin by realizing that humility is not humiliation. Joan says it most eloquently when she invites us to recognize...

... a proper sense of self in a universe of wonders. When we make ourselves, God, no one in the world is safe in our presence. Humility… is the basis for right relationships in the life.

Sister Joan, and I believe Benedict, believes that no spiritual maturity can be achieved in the absence of a clear sense of God's role in our development. 

Not surprisingly, Benedict chose to use Jacob's ladder as a metaphor for our ascendance and descendants. Pointing out that we descend by exultation and can only ascend by humility.

The 1st step...

We are called to keep the reverence of God always before our eyes. God must be the center of our existence. We must recognize Him and begin no act without inviting Him to join us. When we love him, and all He loves hyphen--we will be carried by Him and impeled to love all God's children.

It may sound a little trite, but to begin, we need only open our eyes, and look at the world around us. God is within us to be realized, and not outside of us to be stumbled upon.

Sister Joan uses a beautiful story to illustrate this connection between God and ourselves.

"How does a person seek union with God? the seeker asks.

"The harder you seek," the teacher said, "the more distant you create between God and you."

"So what does one do about the distance? "

"Understand that it isn't there, "the teacher said.

"Does that mean that God and I are one? "The seeker said.

"Not one. No two."

"How is that possible? "The seeker asked.

"The sun and its light, the ocean and the wave, the singer and the song. Not one. Not two. "

We are in union with God by our very nature. He's there for us to recognize.

 

We must want...

Benedict begins by calling our attention to 2 Corinthians 9:7 reminding us that God loves a cheerful giver. And by so doing he invites us to recognize that we must grow to deeply want to serve.

You must give yourself to it wholeheartedly. You must enter into it with Hope and surety. You must not kick and kick against the goad.  (A goad is a pointed stick to prod animals.) 

This, Benedict says, is not obedience. This is only compliance, and compliance kills, both us, and the community, whose heart is fractured by those who hold theirs back. Real obedience depends on wanting to listen to the voice of God in the human community, not wanting to be forced to do what we refuse to grow from.

We must want to grow – grow in our love for Him and 

our love for others – all others.

This is our call

As a monastic, Sister Joan lives in community.  As a author and teacher of the Rule, she understands the world in which we live.  And so she sees and is quick to respond to Benedict's opening call....

The Tools for Good Works

Sunday, January 18, 2026

Chapter 4

First of all, "love God with your whole heart, your whole soul and all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself (Mt 22:37-39; Mk 12:30-31; Lk 10:27)." 

Sister Joan sees and lives in Benedict's opening call, not for prayer or sacrifice or devotion or asceticism but a call for love, 

for "that most valiant kind of monastic heart," who sets out to find the holy in the human. The call to contemplation to not simply to see Christ in the other but to treat the other as Christ. Benedict calls us first to justice: love God, love the other, do no harm to anyone.

...to be engaged in the great Christian enterprise of acting for others in the place of God. 

This is our call. 

A gift from Aloka

Wisdom is....

Benedict speaks today on the importance of the community coming together to offer council to the prior or prioress and to one another. We must be willing and able to fully listen to those whom our decisions affect. To listen to those around us with whom we live.

Sister Joanne observes these collective life experiences do count – remarking that wisdom is simply it's distillation.  

This is a most interesting idea – what if the knowledge we have gained over the course of our collective lives could be catalogued and index so that all of our experiences could be easily referenced. There is so much truth, so much to be gained from the collective wisdom of the community that surround us every day. This is such a simple truth.

Teach us Lord to open our ears and our hearts 

to our community – to the wisdom 

that surrounds us on every side.

Call to Lead

Life in a retirement community is full and enriching.  Surrounded by the wisdom of years and experience, we each have the opportunity to continue to grow.  In our Benedictine community, this growth includes not only the earthly and worldly wisdoms of aging but the true insights of faith and spiritual growth.

Benedict and Sister Joan open the door to another realization--we are all called to lead within our community.  The call is clear.  We are all responsible for our community and its spiritual development--called to quietly lead by example--through the quality and integrity of our own lives.

Faced with the litany of emotional responses found in all human communities: anger, frustration, disappointment, rejection, failure – we are each called to resist the sin of resignation, despair, depression, and false hope. We are never to stop trying. We're never to give in to the lesser in life. We are never to lose hope in God's mercy. 

Benedictines are called to birth souls of steel and light; they are called to live the life they lead; their call to live in discriminately; their call to favor the good, not to favor the favorites; they are to call the community to the height and depth and breath of the spiritual life; they are to remember and rejoice in their own weaknesses in order to deal tenderly with the weaknesses of others; they are to attend more to the spiritual than to the physical aspects of community life; and finally, they are to save their own souls in the process, to be human beings themselves, to grow in life themselves.

Trial by Faith

We are called to learn to survive life's trials by faith in His strength--surrendering to not only survive but to grow in His name.   We are each called to service in His name--disciples in name following The Way.  

We are called to struggle in life with those around

us--to grow in depth, in sincerity, and in holiness, 

to grow despite weaknesses, to grow beyond our 

weaknesses.

 

 

How do we grow?  We surrender trusting in His word.  We must give Him our willful spirit.  He will wake us up to the tomorrow that can be--not to remain in the dark world of today.

We must learn to humble ourselves at all time.  Do the work we are called to do.  With Him by our side and by His Grace we will prevail.

 

To Enshrine The Way

Benedict focuses again today on the importance of the prior and prioress leading a life which they seek to enshrine in others. Sister Joan brings it to life for us today.

The abbot and prioress are to make of themselves the light that guides
 and the crystal that rings true. Otherwise, why should anyone else 

attempt The Way at all?

If you have not already done so, let me again invite you to read Practicing the Way, by John Mark Comer.  I believe Saint Benedict devoted his life to teaching how we are to make Practicing the Way our life's work.

A reminder...

 

Norman Rockwell, 1961

Pray for our country....

Norman Rockwell, in 1961, offered us a vision of humanity’s shared dignity: men, women, and children of every nation, faith, and complexion gathered under the golden words of the Gospel’s Golden Rule. That canvas spoke not just of America, but of God’s dream for humanity: that we might look into each other’s eyes and see not threat or stranger, but brother and sister. It was painted during the Cold War, the Civil Rights movement, and the uneasy dawn of global consciousness. It was aspirational—a reminder of who we might be, not who we were.

If the Creator—by whatever name invoked in our different traditions—were to look upon America today, I believe He/She would see a people both blessed beyond measure and broken by their own choices:

• Blessed, because we still carry extraordinary freedom, creativity, resources, and the ability to speak, gather, and worship. These are gifts entrusted to us, not earned by us.

• Broken, because division, anger, suspicion, and greed have crept into our common life. Many see neighbors not as fellow children of God, but as enemies. Our politics often reward outrage more than compassion. We live in an age of abundance, yet millions go hungry or are crushed under debt. The Creator must surely weep that after so many years, we still struggle with racism, violence, and indifference.

The eyes of the painting—serious, compassionate, longing—ask us whether we have grown closer to the dream Rockwell imagined, or drifted further.

Can we be humble enough to ask for help?

Humility is the only path back. We must admit:

• We cannot fix this by clever policies alone.

• We cannot heal by shouting louder than the other side.

• We cannot find peace until we are willing to kneel—each in our own way of prayer, silence, or surrender—and confess that we have fallen short.

Humility is not weakness. It is the courage to say: 

We need help. We need grace. 

We need wisdom greater than our own.

We stand again before Rockwell’s vision, sixty-five years later. The world is watching whether we can live into the words: 

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. 

This is not sentiment—it is the Creator’s law written in every faith tradition: in Torah, in the words of Jesus, in the sayings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), in the wisdom of the Buddha, in the counsel of the Bhagavad Gita.

Let us begin with small steps:

• See the humanity of the neighbor with whom you disagree
• Choose kindness when cruelty is easier
• Teach children not just to succeed, but to serve
• Pray—not only for your family—but for the stranger

If enough of us do this, then perhaps in another sixty-five years, a new artist might paint not just the dream, but the reality of a nation—and a world—that finally took the Golden Rule seriously.

We must take responsibility

God waits for us. We are indeed called to see God. We are responsible for our own souls. Personal decisions are still decisions, personal judgments are still judgment, free will is still free will.

We must take responsibility for ourselves – what we have done, what we are doing, and what we will do. Therein lies the challenge – we fall we get up, we fall we get up. This is our constant effort.

Might there be a time when we begin to feel less and less? The gospels and Benedict seek to share an answer with us.

Pray without ceasing, read, meditate, and reflect on the word, listen with the ear of the heart. God will see us. God will hear us. And by his grace, the day will come when we realize we are drawing nearing – that God is at hand.

We must be willing....

Sister Joan Chittister starts her discourse today on what she calls the social revolution of the rule. She points out that the superior of the Benedictine monastery is to be a Christ figure, simple, unassuming, immersed in God.

She then takes this gentle discussion of the qualities of the prior or prioress and extends it into a way of living for you and me. She reminds us that the spiritual journey takes time. That we must place Him before ourselves beyond all else. We must recognize that, in time, the practices living in us will bring us into full communion with God.

She makes a very interesting point too, about the role of the prior and prioress as a model. They are not to be idolized, but they are indeed models. In truth as each of us is call to be a disciple. However, we should never lose sight that is our goal to allow Him to find us.  We must learn to trust in Him and then surrender – opening ourselves up to his love and wisdom.

While living in this secular world, fulled of distractions, we must build His moral code within our weak and often unwilling selves. 

Your Rule of LIfe

Obedience to your Rule of Life is the most important task in front of you each day. If we follow the rule--we move toward our life goals. How easy to say and so very difficult to do daily.  

Your Rule of Life is your guide to walking through 

the universe whole and holy.  Listen, pay attention and attend

to the important things in life. Let nothing go by without

being open to being nourished by the inner meaning 

of that event in life.

We are called...

This Rule is Only a Beginning of Perfection

Keep this little rule written for beginners. After that, you can

set out for the loftier summits of the teaching and virtues under

God's protection.

It is not what we read, it is what we become--a change of

heart, a change of life. We are called to become His Holy Word.

A candle on the path

Sister Joan reminds us that what we cannot expect from others what we cannot model in ourselves. Benedictine spirituality, she reminds us, asks that we follow only the good and the wise, only those who call us to our best selves, our fullest selves.  Benedict knows that if we live according to the Scriptures and choose according to the deepest and highest and greatest of human ideals, life will not fail us, whatever it struggles, whatever it's cost.

It is in this theology of leadership that we learn where the great listen to the small, the small will listen to the great and mercy will triumph over judgment. Benedictine spirituality is not an end in itself, nor is it an excuse to oppress the people for whom all law is made. But rather, Benedictine spirituality recognizes that the law is a candle on the path of life, intended to lead us to the good we seek.

Called to follow the good and wise

It does seem obvious that we would want to be lead only by the good and wise. However, life reveals that we frequently follow the sirens call.

Benedict recognized that if we live according to the Scriptures and choose according to the deepest and highest and greatest of human ideals and values, then life cannot fail for us whatever it struggles, whatever it's costs.

Of maybe greatest importance, it becomes clear that Benedict recognizes that we are called to do all of this within community. For it is in community ultimately that we all live, and in which we all grow-- depending on one another daily for our bread as well as our intellectual sustenance and care.

The Spark of the Divine

Benedictine spirituality recognizes the spark of the divine in each of us.  As we move through the world in which we work and live, every encounter with a friend or stranger is a moment to be treasured.  We have the opportunity to encounter the living Christ--if we will but be present. 

All too often it is our story that we want to tell. It is our moment of crisis we want to share. Benedict invites us to recognize the living Christ in the other and to understand that with each person we encounter we have the opportunity to learn and grow – but we must learn to listen – to listen with the ear of the heart.

Chapter 63: The consequences of libration

Freed from societal rankings and judgments, Benedict's monks understood their place was set only by the day of their arrival.  Subject to the same list of duties of prayer, study, and work, each established themselves by their acceptance of and performance of their common duties and responsibilities.

In practice, those who strove to meet the demands of their new world, who acted and spoke with gentleness, kindness, and respect for place and one another--were so recognized for who they were in the world of the monastery--not by former title or station of life but by how they lived their lives.  What would our world be like today if each of us and those around us lived this way?

Hold fast to our humanity....

While discussing the role of a priest in the monastery, Benedict reminds all of us to 

...hold fast to our humanity, to make it our priority and never to let what we have obscure what we are.

Far to often the trappings of our role blinds us to our fundamental call to serve and to live the full life to which we are all called.  Whether doctor, lawyer, mother, teacher--we must never let the privileges of our role blind us to our call to humility, our call from God to serve.

Opportunity to begin again....

 What God gave Adam was not forgiveness 

from sin; what God gave Adam was 

the chance to begin again.

Elie Wiesel   

Sr. Joan reminds us that life is a series of opportunities to begin again.  She frames this in a series of provocative questions:

• is this group, is this place calling out the best in me,
• is this where I fit,
• is this the place where I can become what God wants for me,
• can I see God's footsteps clearly in front of me?

Sr. Joan and Benedict's questions are clear?  Is this where I am called to be?  Am I doing what He would have me do?

There is meaning in every journey...

Dietrich Bonhoeffer observed

There is a meaning in every journey

that is unknown to the traveler.

Sr. Joan drives this point home calling us to open ourselves to learn from everyone. This invites a kind of radical acceptance, recognizing that every conversation we have throughout the day is a chance to experience unexpected learning--but we must be open to the possibility.

We must be prepared to open our eyes to and welcome wisdom from any direction--never to close ourselves to learning--even in the most of challenging conversations.

Letting go....

Benedict knew what most of us learn sooner or later: it is hard to let go of the past, and yet, until we do, there is no hope whatsoever that we can ever gain from the future.

Sr. Joan's admonition is clear:

If we cling to the past, the future is closed to us.

To become what we said we would be

What a simple yet challenging idea.  Sr. Joan's capacity to see and understand the wisdom threaded so Gracefully through the Rule is both a joy and a precious gift.  That a chapter devoted to the offering of children to the monastery could offer us so much today is a clear and present indication that Sr. Joan hears and reflects His word and widom through-out her writing.

Benedict, is dedicated to the spirituality of the long haul--a spirituality focused on simplicity, community, and equality.  Sr. Joan and Benedict insist that we complete in faith what we began in enthusism--true to ourselves--and become what we said we would be.

All too often, we hear and respond to today's call to accomodate what might seem to be the more sensible, the more reasonable, the easier course of life and living--the self-sufficiency that frees us from the overwhelming value of the smelting effects of commuinity.  

Do not give in--prevail.

Let us remember

"In India," Ram Dass writes, "when people meet and part they often say, 'Namaste,' which means: I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us....'Namaste'." 

It is an important distinction in a culture in which strangers are ignored and self-sufficiency is considered a sign of virtue and poverty is a synonym for failure. 

To practice hospitality in our world, it may be necessary to evaluate all the laws and all the promotions and all the invitation lists of corporate and political society from the point of view of the people who never make the lists. Then hospitality may demand that we work to change things.

 

What DO the Gospels demand of us?

Look closely at Benedict's invitation. Benedictine spirituality is not a set of rules; it is a way of life. We are invited to be who we say we are. We are to be simple, centered in God, in search of higher things.

We are invited to live out the Gospel message

at every moment of every day. Nothing less.

What is your goal?

Benedict calls us to sanctify the real.  The life we are living is holy. We are called to recognize this and live it as if every moment is Holy--lived in His presence

Spirituality leavens our lives; stabilizes us. Stability in life--as we live it--is priceless.  It is who we are called to become.  It is who we strive to be!