Chapter 48: Daily manual labor (paragraphs 1-2)
It may be, of course, that because of local conditions or the poverty of the monastery the community may themselves have to do the harvest work. If that happens it should not discourage anyone because they will really be in the best monastic tradition if the community is supported by the work of their own hands. (From para. 2 of Ch. 48 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
This passage speaks to me of the Shaker motto: "Hands to work, and hearts to God." It seems to be that it's in that touchpoint, between hands and hearts, that my work can become energized by the Spirit.
"It is labor's transfiguration of the commonplace, the transformation of the ordinary that makes co-creators of us all." (Joan Chittister, Rule of Benedict Daily Reading). Abba, my Creator, Great Artist, help me to rejoice in how commonplace I am, in my ordinariness. Help me to embrace being the simple clay that I am. Help me to embrace, at the same time, being the magnificent art piece you invite me, through daily humble labor, to co-create with you.
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