Chapter 7: The value of humility (paragraphs 19-20)
The humility of their hearts should be apparent by their bodily movements to all who see them. [...] Good habit and delight in virtue will carry us along. (From paras. 19-20 of Ch. 7 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Just as stillness is a sacrament of presence, so is movement an emanation of the quality of my heart. What happens when I stop hurrying, or pay attention to the task in my hands, or take time to embrace another in greeting? The practice of meditation integrates my heart and body, and carries me along.
“...let him always have his head bowed down, his eyes fixed on the ground, ever holding himself guilty of his sins, thinking that he is already standing before the dread judgment seat of God....” Benedict reminds me here, Abba, that my spiritual growth, my recovery, begins with G-O-D, the “Gift Of Desperation.” Life with You begins every day with death: “Unless the seed dies it remains alone.”
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