Chapter 26: Unlawful association with the excommunicated
If any member of the community presumes without the permission of the abbot or abbess to associate in any way with or speak to or give instructions to one who has been excommunicated then that person should receive exactly the same punishment of excommunication.
(Chapter 26 of Saint Benedict's Rule.)
(Chapter 26 of Saint Benedict's Rule.)
Experiences such as the deep, extended silence of the recent School retreat in Connecticut have taught me how powerfully the Spirit can work in a solitude supported by the love of those around me.
Chapter 26 seems harsh to me, until I read it in parallel with Chapter 27. It isn't that the excommunicated are held in isolation. It is that the communication with the guilty needs to be carefully managed, and administered by those of great love and skill.
ReplyDeleteIn the context of meditation, it isn't that we should attempt to banish our monkey mind and pretend that it doesn't exist or that we should feed it and thereby encourage it, but that we should approach it with loving understanding.