Chapter 2: Gifts needed by an abbot or abbess (paragraph 3)
Any, then, who accept the name of abbot abbess should give a lead to their disciples by two distinct methods of teaching -- by the example of the lives they lead (and that is the most important way) and by the words they use in their teaching. (From para. 3 of Ch. 2 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
I may not often be in official positions of authority, but I am always called to be authentic. Meditation helps me to be authentic, to be my true Self, one with my true Source -- a dynamic energy source that can take me beyond my ego's limitations to touch the heart of another.
One of today's readings from St. Ignatius of Antioch helps me with my lectio on this chapter of the Rule. The word that stands out for me from the Rule for today is "example". St. Ignatius says that "Those who profess to belong to Christ will be known by what they do. For the work we are about is not a matter of words here and now, but depends on the power of faith and on being faithful to the end." He also goes onto say, "It is better to remain silent and to be than to talk and not be." It is important for me to give "example" by the way I live my life which flows from my being faithful--faithful to my Benedictine vows, faithful to the meditation practice, faithful to the silence, faithful to the mantra, and faithful to the knowledge that God is dwelling within me.
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