Chapter 37: Care for the elderly and the young
Human nature itself is drawn to tender concern for those in the two extremes of age and youth, but the authority of the Rule should reinforce this natural instinct. (From Ch. 37 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Do I allow my natural instinct for tender concern for age and youth to overcome my preoccupations with myself? Am I clear that cultural preoccupations with individual agency, power, even celebrity, can be dangerously powerful? Listening to the mantra is countercultural, and has helped me become more alert to the call of frailty.
Do I allow my natural instinct for tender concern for age and youth to overcome my preoccupations with myself? Am I clear that cultural preoccupations with individual agency, power, even celebrity, can be dangerously powerful? Listening to the mantra is countercultural, and has helped me become more alert to the call of frailty.
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