Chapter 3: Calling the community together for consultation (paragraph 1)
To get the balance right it should be remembered that, whereas it is right for subordinates to obey their superior, it is just as important for the superior to be far-sighted and fair in administration. (From para. 1 of Ch. 3 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Community (or family) life, as opposed to autonomous individualism, calls for a balance in me of selflessness and discernment. These are hard-won conditions and require much grace, and yet I know them as conditions that call forth my true nature.
“To those who have begun, [meditation] is as ordinary and as wonderful as daylight. Like the other functions of a balanced, healthy life, meditation requires regular, daily practice. But it is unique among these functions because meditation is the supreme integrating function by which all the others are balanced and aligned on the center.” (John Main, “Monastery Without Walls” Kindle loc 3752). Meditation creates the community where I can allow myself to be loved, Abba, and where I can learn to love as you love.
ReplyDeleteA beautiful combination if obedience and compasion. Both are acts of charity. The hallmark of a God-seeker :-)
ReplyDelete"Let the brethren give their advice
ReplyDeletewith all the deference required by humility,
and not presume stubbornly to defend their opinions; "
This is so unlike the way I am used to giving advice. In the business world, advice and ego go hand in hand. This is a much better way.