Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraphs 5-6)
They should make their own the different ways of teaching which the Apostle Paul recommended to Timothy when he told him to make use of criticism, of entreaty and of rebuke. Thus in adapting to changing circumstances they should use now the encouragement of a loving parent and now the threats of a harsh disciplinarian. [...]
A monastic superior should never show tolerance of wrongdoing, but as soon as it begins to grow should root it out completely . . . (From paras. 5-6 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Benedict convinces me of the need for discernment in teaching or correcting when the Spirit urges me to do so. In my experience of discernment in human relations, discernment takes place over time, so that patience and good timing come into play -- patience so that I do not react from the ego, and good timing so that I am sensitive to the right moment for growth or change. But I must be careful not to use time, hedgingly, as a failure to act in an appropriate way.
A monastic superior should never show tolerance of wrongdoing, but as soon as it begins to grow should root it out completely . . . (From paras. 5-6 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Benedict convinces me of the need for discernment in teaching or correcting when the Spirit urges me to do so. In my experience of discernment in human relations, discernment takes place over time, so that patience and good timing come into play -- patience so that I do not react from the ego, and good timing so that I am sensitive to the right moment for growth or change. But I must be careful not to use time, hedgingly, as a failure to act in an appropriate way.
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