Prologue to The Rule (paragraph 4)
If you wish to have true life that lasts for ever, then keep your tongue from evil; let you lips speak no deceit; turn away from wrongdoing; seek out peace and pursue it. If you do that, [God] says, I shall look upon you with such love and my ears will be so alert to your prayer that, before you so much as call on me, I shall say to you: here I am. What gentler encouragement could we have, my dear brothers and sisters, than that word from the Lord calling us to himself in such a way! We can see with what loving concern the Lord points out to us the path of life. (From para. 4 of the Prologue to The Rule of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
If I live a kind life, St. Benedict reminds me, God is with me before I even call on God. In the same way, in the faithful practice of meditation, there is really nothing for me to "accomplish" in order to have true life; I'm simply called to be with God.
"Let your lips speak no deceit." What is "deceit" but dishonesty,and untruthfulness that breeds conflict in a community. Sometimes it is difficult to know what I should say and when without hurting someone. I am thankful for the meditation practice and the little poor mantra that brings me continually back to the center within myself where "illusion-shattering honesty" exists. It is an honesty that demands harmony and peace, first within and then without. Silence nurtures that honesty within the "chamber of the heart" where the Lord who is peace and gentleness is with us constantly. "Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me."
ReplyDelete“With what loving concern the Lord points out to us the path to life”. I am such a stubborn, arrogant creature by nature. Too often it has been “my way or the highway”. This has led me to lots of dead ends over eight decades. Mercifully you have shown me and gently led me back to the path to life, Abba. You are the path, the Way, the Truth and the Life. My meditation with its million swinging monkeys mirrors my vagabond tendencies. The mantra is my way through the wilderness with you, to you.
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