Chapter 22: Sleeping arrangements for the community
In the morning, as they are getting up for the work of God, they should quietly give encouragement to those who are sleepy and given to making excuses for being late. (From para. 2 of Ch. 22 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Here I am the sleepy one, given to making excuses, and I am also the one who encourages. Contradictory or complementary tendencies, perfectly explicable in a human. And, like my meditation practice, I struggle with fidelity, and yet also find that fidelity is in me, deeper than my ego.
Here I am the sleepy one, given to making excuses, and I am also the one who encourages. Contradictory or complementary tendencies, perfectly explicable in a human. And, like my meditation practice, I struggle with fidelity, and yet also find that fidelity is in me, deeper than my ego.
The mature part of me that seeks to be with the Beloved should encourage the sleepy child in me.
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