Chapter 3: Calling the community together for consultation (paragraphs 2-3)
Such is the appropriate way to conform to that precept of scripture: If you act always after hearing the counsel of others, you will avoid the need to repent of your decision afterwards.
(From para. 3 of Ch. 3 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
I'm grateful when the Spirit inspires me with energy and initiative; it's come to feel like a very trustworthy partnership! And yet, I also know that to act within a loving community requires counsel, discernment, and patience, for the very reason that the movement must be of the Spirit, and not of my ego.
(From para. 3 of Ch. 3 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
I'm grateful when the Spirit inspires me with energy and initiative; it's come to feel like a very trustworthy partnership! And yet, I also know that to act within a loving community requires counsel, discernment, and patience, for the very reason that the movement must be of the Spirit, and not of my ego.
I have a most active committee in my head, providing me—and too often others--with all sorts of often conflicting counsel. My twice-daily meditation confronts and quiets this inner debating society. It opens me to listening to and hearing you in the counsel of my fellows.
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