St Benedict
wrote a Prologue to his Rule, and
here are a couple of sentences from the Prologue…
Therefore we intend to establish a school
for the Lord’s service. In drawing up
its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome. The good of all concerned, however, may
prompt us to a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard
love. Do not be daunted immediately by
fear and run away…
This is so Benedictine, and it helps to have a
sense of humour… Nothing harsh, nothing burdensome… but… a little strictness, to amend faults and to safeguard love. Benedict’s pathway is gentle. We keep saying this, because it is not what
people expect. The expectation so often
is that if it is going to be good for you it must taste bad, if it tastes good
it must be bad for you, if it has cost an arm and a leg it must be the best, if
it hurts it must be healing, there is no gain without pain. Jesus said, My yoke is easy and my burden is light.
Benedict’s way is the gentle enticement of love. There is always provision along this road for
return and rest and a fresh start. There
is always understanding of human frailty and fallibility, and the need to avoid
passing judgement on people.
At the same
time we have a little strictness. There are some things a disciple of Christ
needs to know. It is pointless to have
disciplines, however simple, if they get set aside. One key factor here, especially for our day
and age, is that feelings and emotions and personal inclinations no longer decide
everything for me. This is
unintelligible to many people. How I am feeling
at the moment may be important to note, but in the silence and disciplines of
this journey it is determining less and less what I choose and what I
think. Benedict says that this
strictness is to amend faults and to
safeguard love. And that is exactly
what happens, along the way – not because we are gritting our teeth and making
it happen, but because in contemplative life and prayer we are discovering that
we can be still and consenting and allowing God to do it in us. A
little strictness is always a sign to us that we have a road we are walking by
love and faith.
So, he says,
Do not be daunted immediately by fear and
run away. When oblates come to their
full vows eventually, one of the three vows is the commitment to Stability. Stability means an end to running away, to
seeing whether the grass is possibly greener elsewhere. The principle behind this vow is that God
does not have to be sought. God is not
somewhere over the rainbow, or at the end of some arduous pilgrimage. We are not tracking down the Holy Grail or
following our egos to this or that shrine.
We are here, and God is here, and was here before we got here, full of
grace and truth. There is nowhere to run
to. Anywhere I go, what I will have
brought when I get there is the same self I am here. That is the self that is already the subject
of unconditional love and mercy. I am
learning always to say YES to that.
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