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.
“The kitchen…ought to be separate, so that guests…need not disturb the members when they present themselves at unpredictable hours”(RB.16). And
“the house of God should be in the care of wise men who will manage it wisely”(RB.22).
“Separation” and “wise management” seem like distanced concepts. What Benedict is reminding me as he does time and time again is that I have to preserve the inner space and time where I meet the Divine Guest in prayer and meditation. There lies the “separation”. Then I can entertain guests in the kitchen and the rest of the house. There lies the wise care of details. I cannot forget the first because the second will fall short. More specifically as I prepare for family visitors, the details fall into place only after I have first prepared in the depths of my own heart and have wisely managed my own time for rest and thoughtful preparation. “Balance and order and prayer in the life of those who practice Benedictine spirituality”(and meditation)” are keys to being a genuine support in the lives of others”(Chittister, The Rule of Benedict,p. 233)
“The kitchen…ought to be separate, so that guests…need not disturb the members when they present themselves at unpredictable hours”(RB.16). And
ReplyDelete“the house of God should be in the care of wise men who will manage it wisely”(RB.22).
“Separation” and “wise management” seem like distanced concepts. What Benedict is reminding me as he does time and time again is that I have to preserve the inner space and time where I meet the Divine Guest in prayer and meditation. There lies the “separation”. Then I can entertain guests in the kitchen and the rest of the house. There lies the wise care of details. I cannot forget the first because the second will fall short. More specifically as I prepare for family visitors, the details fall into place only after I have first prepared in the depths of my own heart and have wisely managed my own time for rest and thoughtful preparation. “Balance and order and prayer in the life of those who practice Benedictine spirituality”(and meditation)” are keys to being a genuine support in the lives of others”(Chittister, The Rule of Benedict,p. 233)