Chapter 70: The offence of striking another
Every occasion for presumptuous behaviour in a monastery must be avoided, so we insist that no one in the community may excommunicate or strike another unless given the power to do so by the superior. (From Ch. 70 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
My behavior is presumptuous when my ego moves in ahead of my heart; when judging takes the place of love.
"This is exactly what our meditation teaches us so well. To lose self, we must stop thinking about ourselves." (from Silence and Stillness in Every Season for December 30) It is precisely the self that wants to assert the last word or the deciding opinion or the psychological knowledge to help fix a "bad" relationship. By relinquishing these "presumptions" and remaining silent I give way to something greater to happen which to me may seem like the worst. This is where the difficulty lies-thinking that I have the best solution or the best advice and letting go. Give me strength, O Lord, to trust in you as I place these people in your loving care and remember that in meditation I am silent before You who are all-knowing and all-loving.
ReplyDeleteOne of the effects of meditation, for me, Abba, has been a recognition of the savagery of my tongue. My savage tongue still loves gossip, that polite form of murder, as Pope Francis reminded his Curia. My savage tongue too readily emits sarcasm, that literal “tearing of the flesh”. By your grace, the silence and stillness of meditation is slowly taming this savage organ of mine.
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