Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 4)
They should not select for special treatment any individual in the monastery. (From para. 4 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I can't be an authentic leader committed to the welfare of others, and play favorites. But I'll have my favorites, my special friends, and love them in a powerful way that will teeter on the edge of exclusivity. The Dalai Lama and Benedict remind me that true love always sets another free.
“God shows no partiality among persons”(Rom 2:11). “Only in this are we distinguished in his sight: if we are found better than others in good works and in humility”(RB 2:21). It seems that the first sentence conflicts with the second.
ReplyDeleteA couple of things to consider. One is the audience for whom Benedict was writing this Rule at the time. Privilege and status were paramount. (However, it was not much different at that time than where we stand in the present.) In fact, I find myself looking at what people do and what privileges they enjoy. Not exactly an attractive trait on my part. I know that.
The second point I need to consider is that last word “humility” which Benedict goes into great length explaining later on in the Rule. I can even get caught up in doing lots of good works to make myself feel good but humility brings me right back down to where I should,could,can be-back to my meditation seat and the mantra and poverty of spirit and being and staying “IN HIS SIGHT.”
I love Richard Rohr’s lines which seem to fit for me right here in the moment, “There is no secret moral command for knowing or pleasing God, or what some call ‘salvation,' beyond becoming a loving person in mind, heart, body, and soul. Then you will see what you need to see” (Richard Rohr’s Meditation:What You Seek Is What You Are, January 3, 2016).