Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraph 9)
The third step of humility is to submit oneself out of love of God to whatever obedience under a superior may require of us; it is the example of he Lord himself that we follow in this way, as we know from St Paul's words: he was made obedient even unto death. (Para. 9 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Obedience means to listen deeply to another, with selfless attention; it's a way of ascesis that can cut through the ego. In this way, perhaps, the essential goodness at the core of my being, may respond to the essential goodness at the core of another's being.
Through his writings, Thomas Merton has been one if my favorite teachers, one if my 'spiritual superiors.'. Now, on his 100th birthday, I want to honor him by following his example of obedience to the will of God. And to follow the will of God, is to first hear what He says thru my own version of a hermit day, a day of 'Ora et Labor a.'. In between, prayer is a manual work and in between work is prayer.
ReplyDeleteTwo things in reflecting on this step of obedience: my sight and my watch, seeing who is asking me and how much time this will take. Here is where humility is asking me to let go of both. First of all, the eyes of my heart need to be opened to look beyond the human form before me letting go of all my prejudice, judgment, and past dealings with that person and seeing Christ. Secondly, I need to let go of the concept of time. I cannot see into the future and need to let go of the past along with the feeling that this will take too much of my time or make uncomfortable changes in my plans. It is the meditation practice every day that constantly is at work in me. "As we enter the silence within us,...we are entering a void in which we are unmade. ...We are ,in fact, not being destroyed" (as I think) "but awakened to the eternally fresh source of our being. ...We are springing from the Creator's hand and returning to God in love." Let me "spring" into obedience and into love. Give me strength, O Lord.
ReplyDeleteThe quote used in the reflection comes from Word Into Silence by John Main, p.30
ReplyDelete