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(Originally published in the Summer 2007 edition of the Seven Thunders Newsletter) The Ordinary Way A recent article about Pope Benedict XVI described him as an abbot and noted that his choice of papal name was not only an homage to the last Pope Benedict, but was also prompted by his love of Benedictine spirituality. Pope as abbot. We do not usually think of a Pope in these terms. The article called him “an abbot concerned with leading his community to a deeper encounter with God through prayer and service…, a gatherer concerned primarily with the Church’s communion.” This got me thinking about the Rule of St. Benedict and its applicability not only to monastic life but also to us as lay contemplatives. It is elegant in its simplicity and powerfully transforming. Benedictine spirituality, and its Cistercian offshoot, are among the least spectacular of Christian spiritualities. Whereas Ignatian spirituality seeks the greater glory of God, and Franciscan spirituality seeks a radical identification with poverty and the crucified One, the Benedictine and its derivatives encounter the Anointed One above all in the routine of daily life. Rarely dramatic, it is a deep life grounded in steady, prayerful attentiveness to God in community. The Rule of St. Benedict is a timeless document, in so many ways as fresh and relevant as it was when it was written almost fifteen hundred years ago. Although written for monastics, many of its prescriptions and the issues it addresses have significant value for contemplatives living in the world. The qualities which comprise a valued contemplative life – humility, patience, simplicity, solitude, caring for others, and living in community – concern every one of us. The framework it provides has great value for people seeking to live their faith on a contemplative path in the midst of family and daily life. It is a brief, simple template for living a balanced life in community. The Rule calls those following it to “prefer nothing to Christ.” The Kingdom of God is not a program, but the continual awareness of the abiding presence of God. One encounters the Christ spirit, the divine life, in each moment in prayerful silence. Benedictine spirituality, whether practiced in a monastery or in the midst of a busy family life, has been called a “school for God’s service,” wherein one meets the Anointed One in contemplation, in the liturgy, in prayerful reading as well as in doing laundry, making beds, preparing meals, paying bills, going to work. Its contemplative dimension enables a deeper and more expansive engagement in the world. The first word of the Benedictine rule is “listen.” This is the word and the practice par excellence of the contemplative life— to listen to the voice of the Spirit in the heart. In the Bible, “faith comes by hearing.” To listen, to receive the Word of God, is not only to lend it an attentive ear but also to open one’s heart.” The eighteenth century English contemplative, William Law (1686-1761) wrote: “The book of all books is in your own heart, in which are written the deepest lessons of divine instruction; learn, therefore, in the silence of your heart to be deeply attentive to the presence of God, Who is always speaking, always instructing, always illuminating the heart that is attentive.” When one listens with an open heart, it becomes clear that the Rule is about savoring each moment, not making excuses, not being satisfied with less than your best, not sliding into inattention. Do some little thing as well as you can each day, and you will see how each thing you do and each moment are full of grace. Living the Rule with this kind of attention to daily life is both a lifeline and a lifetime challenge for monastics and lay people. And it is also the way to incorporate solitude and prayer into busy family and communal life—a way to have both solitude and intimacy, prayer and play, work and study. A balanced life is what is required. Holiness, says St. Benedict, is not something which happens in a vacuum. It has something to do with the way we live in community, as well as with the way we pray and receive the gift of contemplation. The life needs of other people affect the life of the truly spiritual person, and the contemplative hears the voice of God in that. With the help of the Rule, the contemplative in the world works out the way to God by being with others. Sincere contemplative practice means having sincere concern for others. Our practice is based upon our humanity. Life is not to be escaped. There is only the opportunity to live it fully moment by moment in all of its sanctifying tedium and blessed boredom. The spiritual life requires a commitment of faith amidst the absence of certainty. It contains no guarantees of consolation. It depends upon readiness. It demands constancy, and it flourishes in awareness, attention, kindness and compassion. The Rule of St. Benedict says to the lay person that if you want to be holy, stay where you are in your family and community and learn from your circumstances. Learn patience. Learn wisdom. Learn love, kindness and compassion. Neither are arbitrariness and whim part of the Benedictine prescription for holiness. Self-control, purpose and a healthy discipline give direction and structure to the spiritual path. Each day is an opportunity to practice. St. Benedict also reminds us that self-control and spiritual perspective are connected: pride, gluttony, and laziness are of a piece. We expect too much. We consume too much, and we contribute too little. We give ourselves over to ourselves time and again. He says, “Refrain from too much eating or sleeping and from laziness. Moreover, do not grumble…” In this regard Abba Anthony, the great Desert Father (251-356) said, “Have no confidence in your own virtue. Do not worry about a thing once it has been done. Control your tongue and your belly.” And, borrowing from another tradition, in the Tao Te Ching we read:
Be content with what you have. The end of Benedictine (and contemplative) spirituality is the development of a transparent personality. Dissimulation, half-truths, half-answers, vindictiveness, a false presentation of self, are all barbs in the contemplative soul. To a culture which values crafty packaging and “spin,” the Rule says that holiness is being who one really is, opening the heart, giving oneself to the other pure and unglossed. Benedict says, “Do not repay one bad turn with another. Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently.” In short, practice non-violence. It is at the center of the contemplative life, the spiritual life. Non-violence takes the contemplative into the heart of the teaching of the Anointed One. This past week we celebrated the feast day of all the saints—All Saints’ Day. The fruit of following the ordinary way of St. Benedict is that we walk in the footsteps of the saints. Pope Benedict XVI has called the saints the “new Christian constellations” in which the richness of God’s goodness is reflected. “The saints,” he says, “aid us in knowing better the inherent richness of God’s great light and life.” In truth, each of us has the same vocation: we are called to be saints; that is, to be our own unique version of sanctity, reflecting God’s great light and life to the world. No less a follower of St. Benedict’s ordinary way than St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) said that “calling the saints to mind inspires and arouses in us a longing to enjoy their company, to participate in the citizenship of heaven and to dwell with the spirits of the blessed.” The spirits of the blessed accompany us each moment on the contemplative path. A young contemplative once asked a desert elder, “Holy One, is there anything I can do to advance my contemplation and be one with God?” The elder answered, “As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.” The student asked again, “Then of what use are the spiritual exercises and the way we follow?” “To make sure,” the old man replied, “that you are awake when the sun begins to rise.” The Rule of St. Benedict, the ordinary way, which is also the guide for our contemplative path in the world, is a great help to keep us awake until what we live becomes fully and truly alive in us. last updated 3/2/2009
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