Chapter 29: The readmission of any who leave the monastery
Anyone who is guilty of serious wrong by the personal decision to leave the monastery but then asks to be received back again must first of all promise full reparation for leaving the monastery.(From Ch. 29 of Saint Benedict's Rule, trans. by Patrick Barry OSB, 1997.)
St. Benedict's requirement that I "repair" my false starts, my failings, my comings and goings, may involve material goods, but that is not the real point -- the real point is to repair relationships that have been harmed by my self-centeredness. Realizing such huge implications of my behavior can sometimes make me feel helpless. But that helplessness also urges me to rest in God.
Joan Chittister and Benedict remind me that " . . .eventually we must all settle down and do something serious with our lives and everyday we must make a fresh beginning of it." Springtime is by definition a fresh beginning. And Lent is by definition the Church's Springtime, your yearly invitation for me to make a fresh beginning on this adventure called my life. What fun and what joy to do this life thing today, when meditation reminds me we are doing it together, Abba. My role model for joy-full adventuring is my three-year-old grandson grabbing my eighty-year-old little finger as we go "exploring" in a park.
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