WCCM Oblate Blog: Reflections from Daily Reading of the Rule of St. Benedict

WCCM Benedictine Oblates are encouraged to read a designated portion of the Rule daily, and to write a brief, personal response. I hope that this blog will support our Oblate community in this practice. Please, keep blog entries brief and in a first-person ("I") voice. Refrain from discussing, offering an opinion, or commenting on other entries. Simply consider how a particular section of the Rule is speaking to you in your present circumstances.

Thursday, May 16, 2019

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.)

Assumptions and self-defense can cause problems in my dialogue with others, even in subtle ways. Email and texting can make misunderstanding each other exponentially worse. Meditation teaches me to recognize the control tactics of my ego, especially the habit of the sarcastic riposte, so that I might engage authentically with another. May I truly learn to express the deference, respect and self-control that spring from the compassionate heart.

1 comment:

Wally SaundersMay 16, 2019 at 4:55 AM
“Obstinate” used to be my middle name, as you know, Abba. Meditation slowly provides me with its antidote. Twice a day it is teaching me how to quiet my protesting mind and mouth, calm myself and listen for you and welcome you in my heart.
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