Chapter 53: The reception of guests (paragraphs 5-6)
The kitchen to serve the superior together with the guests should be quite separate, so that guests, who are never lacking in a monastery, may not unsettle the community by arriving, as they do, at all times of the day. (From para. 5 of Ch. 53 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I may not have two kitchens, but I have the grace of a discipline, the practice of meditation twice a day. Circumstances may require me to be flexible, and sometimes I may fail, but I have the stability of knowing what my practice is, so that I may always be grounded in it, always return to it.
I may not have two kitchens, but I have the grace of a discipline, the practice of meditation twice a day. Circumstances may require me to be flexible, and sometimes I may fail, but I have the stability of knowing what my practice is, so that I may always be grounded in it, always return to it.
In the "WCCM Closing Prayer" after group meditation or individual meditation are the words," May those who pray here be strengthened by the Holy Spirit to serve all who come and to receive them as Christ himself." In the "oratory" of the meditative heart I am prepared to open to the "silent presence" of Christ. Going out from there, the doors of my "kitchen", and my life can be open to whomever knocks.
ReplyDeleteIn order to be able to receive guests as Jesus, the Rule is demanding flexibility. Reminds me of a stage performance by Chinese monks I saw a few years ago in Sevierville, Tennessee, “The Soul of Shaolin”. It was the first time I understood clearly the connection between practices like the martial arts and yoga and the practice of meditation. Monks who practice martial arts or yoga, I suddenly realized, are simply living out the adage: “A healthy mind in a healthy body”. My discipline of meditation is also supported when I am faithful to some sort of daily discipline of physical exercise, to doing whatever I can do to maintain the flexibility of my aging body.
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