Chapter 43: Late-comers for the work of God or in the refectory (paragraphs 1-3)
When the time comes for one of the Divine offices to begin, as soon as the signal is heard, everyone must set aside whatever they may have in hand and hurry as fast as possible to the oratory, but of course they should do so in a dignified way which avoids giving rise to any boisterous behaviour. The essential point is that nothing should be accounted more important that the work of God.
(From para. 1 of Ch. 43 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I love how, in a long and practical sentence, St. Benedict describes exactly how to deal with what my ego might consider to be interruption. Then, in a short sentence, he makes his point. Meditation teaches me how to deal with distraction, so that I learn to pay attention to what is essential.
“The inner coherence of the Rule explains its longevity. It has not died because it achieves reality. . . . what, to me, epitomizes the achievement of the Rule: the spirit of realistic compassion.” (John Main, “Community of Love” p147.) Ninety percent of life, spiritual and otherwise, is showing up. One day at a time, by showing up, I learn what reality and realistic compassion mean.
ReplyDeleteEveryone should have a chance to experience the absoluteness of this call, perhaps on some kinds of retreat. In Meditatio House in London, working in the office upstairs the noon call to meditation, even expected, might well come in the midst of a call with an important vendor. A worthy "out"? No, because all parts of the House (the monastery, in Benedict's Rule) are sacred and everyone is affected by the non-participation of one. What we don't experience with such immediateness in our solitary "monasteries without walls", is how necessary each one of us is, in the faithfulness with which we do make God the first and most necessary element in everything. And in a more absolute call, we see our own resistance up close and personal! Once "interrupted" and after the meditation, we see our grasp loosened, on what, after all, was not so essential. What a lesson, day after day!
ReplyDeleteBenedict is teaching me something about time and how I approach it. If I have set aside time for prayer, lectio, the Divine Office and meditation do I come to it late, distracted, tired ? This is the time that is set aside for the most important "date" in my life, my meeting with God. This is the time that He reaches out to me and I to Him. Can I immediately set aside what I am doing, and go with utmost speed to meet Him? This is where the "rubber hits the road" for me.
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