Chapter 48: Daily manual labor (paragraphs 1-2)
Idleness is the enemy of the soul, therefore all the community must be occupied at definite times in manual labour and at other time in lectio divina. (From para. 1 of Ch. 48 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
For me, being idle is a recognizable but unsatisfying state, characterized by distractibility and fantasy. It is not true rest. A remedy for idleness is turning my attention away from my thoughts and moods, as purely as possible. I know that I am not idle if my soul is resting in God.
For me, being idle is a recognizable but unsatisfying state, characterized by distractibility and fantasy. It is not true rest. A remedy for idleness is turning my attention away from my thoughts and moods, as purely as possible. I know that I am not idle if my soul is resting in God.
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