Chapter 48: Daily manual labour (paragraphs 6-7)
If there are any who are so feckless and lazy that they have become unwilling or unable any longer to study or read seriously then they must be given suitable work which is within their powers so that they may not sink into idleness.
(From para. 6 of Ch. 48 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
In Psalm 127 for Morning Prayer I read: "In vain is your earlier rising,/your going later to rest,/you who toil for the bread you eat,/when he pours gifts on his beloved while they slumber." Benedict's passage, and that of the psalmist's, strike me at first as opposed. But each in their own way point to the need to cultivate an inner alertness, an inner experience of the presence of God. Some days I'm like the lazy monk of Benedict's time, who just simply needs to be kept from sinking into lethargy. At other times, I'm like the beloved slumberer, who remembers God, and realizes God accepts me totally as I am. In both cases, the discipline of meditation is what sometimes protects me from lethargy, and at others offers me holy rest.
Our time on this earth is precious; we cannot afford to waste a second of it.
ReplyDeleteWork can be like the mantra grounded, focussed and with purpose. Even the smallest, unnoticed, type of work such as gardening, folding clothes, or straightening a messy kitchen is like the mantra-one motion after another with the hands, and one word after another with the heart.
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