Chapter 73: This Rule is only a beginning
We, however, can only blush with shame when we reflect on the negligence and inadequacy of the monastic lives we lead. (From para. 1 of Ch. 73 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I think my negligence and inadequacy would cause me to give up, if I hadn't experienced, over time, the grace of finding God hidden within my weaknesses. This must be a fruit of meditation --experiencing grace working on nature.
The last chapter of the Rule and the end of the year come together. I only have to open the Rule at the Prologue and I begin again in the new year. Do I continue in the old ways and habits that are self-defeating? Let me rather focus on the ways and habits that are evolutionary "disposing me to the will of God" and to "a way of living that leads us(me) to pursue life to the fullest"(Chittister,p.302). It is the way of meditation, of contemplation. I must stay "on the path, not with demands but with fidelity....with faith"(John Main,p.366 in Silence and Stillness).This path will lead me to the "intoxicating" vision of love. Can I stand in that intoxication, that "divine explosion, the love of God"(John Main, p. 360) as It translates into my life. Do I allow It? Do I open myself to It? Daily, daily, little by little with God's help, I do.
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