Chapter 63: Community order (paragraphs 2-3)
In that way they will conform to scripture which says they should try to be the first to show respect for each other. (From para. 3 of Ch. 63 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
It seems to me wonderfully true, that life-giving order emerges out of everyone being the first -- the first to show kindness to the other.
“Benedict saw the Christian life not in terms of an intellectual assent to certain propositions but much more as a lifelong and wholehearted commitment to the truth. . . . we . . . need to understand conversion as a coming to completion in the light of God” (“Way of Unknowing” Kindle loc 1420). Fidelity to meditation and the repetition of the mantra form the path to my coming to completion in your light, Abba. Great Artist, My Creator, through this simple, twice-daily practice you begin to show me—as you did Therese of Lisieux and John Main—the incredible privilege of being your, at this moment, on-going, unique, never-to-be-duplicated, work of art. You have never created, nor will you ever, create an exact clone, even of the most miniscule piece of your universe/multiverse. As you create and are even now creating every atom, particle, galaxy or universe, so, at this very moment, you invite me to co-create with you, first of all, myself. You invite me to sprout and grow strong--"convert myself"--in that special place you have reserved for me in your garden, as the tiniest wildflower or the grandest sequoia. What joy!
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