Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 5)
One who follows that way finds protection at all times from sin and vice of thought, of tongue, of hand, of foot, of self-will and of disordered sensual desire, so as to lead a life that is completely open before the scrutiny of God and of his Angels who watch over us from hour to hour. (From para. 5 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
To be scrutinized hour by hour sounds intrusive, till I experience how liberating St. Benedict means it to be. How can I experience intrusion if I am free from selfishness and disorder, if my being is transparent and true?
“That ladder, that precariously balanced pathway to the invisible God, Benedict said, is the integration of body and soul. One without the other, it seems, will not do. Dualism is a hoax.” (Joan Chittister, “Daily Reading from the Rule of Benedict”.) I watch my nine-month old grandson crawling and climbing up a carpeted flight of stairs. I stay close enough behind him to be able to catch him if he falls. How much I enjoy seeing his determined smiles as this little mountain climber makes it up each step one at a time. Abba, that’s the way I imagine you watching my every move as I seek each day to learn how best to love you, how to climb joyfully Benedict's ladder of humility.
ReplyDelete"And in prayer too we ask that God's "will be done" in us(Matt,6:10) The only real preparation that I can make for this prayer is my meditation practice where Christ in all His surrender and acceptance of the Father's will in love is found in my heart. He is my teacher within and I as his disciple ask him to teach me how to follow in
ReplyDeletehis footsteps which is not always the way I would choose if it were left up to me.