WCCM Oblate Blog: Reflections from Daily Reading of the Rule of St. Benedict

WCCM Benedictine Oblates are encouraged to read a designated portion of the Rule daily, and to write a brief, personal response. I hope that this blog will support our Oblate community in this practice. Please, keep blog entries brief and in a first-person ("I") voice. Refrain from discussing, offering an opinion, or commenting on other entries. Simply consider how a particular section of the Rule is speaking to you in your present circumstances.

Thursday, March 7, 2013

Chapter 30: The correction of young children

There is a proper way of dealing with every age and every degree of understanding, and we should find the right way of dealing with the young.

(From Ch. 30 of St. Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)

Somebody said -- was it Jean Vanier? -- that the process of maturing, by it's very nature, makes us feel immature. I know this to be true from my own experience. So much of my adult growth continues to feel developmental -- and this will continue to be so, right to the resurrection experience, I surmise. So finding the right way of dealing with others depends on my deepest respect for their potential for growth.

2 comments:

val latonaMarch 8, 2013 at 5:42 AM
My own repeated stumblings continue to teach me-God is not a God of punishment but a God of healing. Christ shows me that everyday as I learn to love myself because I am truly loved and forgiven. The true test of of my lesson is the extension of it to others.
ReplyDelete
Replies
NonaMarch 10, 2013 at 1:11 PM
I need to be aware that in communicating with others I am respectful of their level of understanding, not putting them down or elevating my own worth.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment