Chapter 3: Calling the community together for consultation (paragraph 1)
The community themselves should be careful to offer their advice with due deference and respect, avoiding an obstinate defence of their own convictions. (From para. 1 of Ch. 3 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
I think assumptions and self-defense rule many conversations, even subtly between friends. Meditation teaches me to begin to recognize the control tactics of my ego. May I truly learn to express the deference and respect that spring from the compassionate heart.
Calling the community together for counsel is "Benedict's contribution to the theology of the Holy Spirit"(Chittister, The Rule of Benedict, p. 53). I see this taking place with our cell meetings. Calling this community of meditators who are also oblates together allows the Holy Spirit to speak truth through my experience and allows me to listen to the truth of others' experiences. Our experiences and ages are very different but it is the Rule that we follow and its "enduring principles and attitudes"as Chittister says(p.55). These voiced truths in the meetings help me to stay the course knowing the love and good-will and wisdom, and prayers that reflect "the Beyond beyond ourselves"(p.56).
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