Chapter 72: The good spirit which should inspire monastic life
It is easy to recognize the bitter spirit of wickedness which creates a barrier to God's grace and opens the way to the evil of hell. But equally there is a good spirit which frees us from evil ways and brings us closer to God and eternal life. (From Ch. 72 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry, OSB, 1997.)
Why, I wonder, does it it seem so much easier to see what is bitter in others and in myself, than to see the good? I'm aware of having a stubborn and very human disposition towards alienation. But, its hold over me is loosened by the practice of loving attention to the Other.
What I am struck by in this reading is Benedict's quote from Rom. 12:10,"They should each try to be the first to show respect to the other" but Benedict adds his own words, "supporting with the greatest patience one another's weaknesses of body or behavior." For me the underlining phrase is "one another's weaknesses of body or behavior". I need to understand that I can easily focus on the other's weakness but fail to perceive my own. As Chittister comments when I look at another's weakness, that is a "bitter zeal" which "wraps" me in myself and even makes me "feel holy about it."(J. Chittister, The Rule of Benedict, p.300). What can I do about? I find my patience weakening because I lose the focus, can't "lessen the attachment to hurts", victimhood ,(Breathing Under Water by Richard Rohr p. 73) and the self-consciousness that underlies it all. Chittister goes on to give me an answer. "Benedictine spirituality is about caring for the people you live with and loving the people you don't and loving God more than yourself."(p.298) In my meditation practice, Christ "invites me to live not just my (our) own isolated life (lives) but to live out of the infinity of God" ..."rooted in Christ” (John Main in Silence and Stillness ,p.119). Maranatha, Maranatha, Maranatha with everyone, everywhere and always, Amen.
ReplyDelete