Chapter 64 pt. 2
The Rule of Benedict August 21
Again I am struck by how full, wise, and beautiful a picture of leadership Benedict paints in this passage.
A couple lines that stick out to me today:
. . . let her know that her duty is rather to profit her sisters
than to preside over them.
She must therefore be learned in the divine law,
that she may have a treasure of knowledge
from which to bring forth new things and old.
The line about bringing forth new things and old also stood out to me in light of Gil's sermon a few weeks ago. I've been thinking about this and wondering if I could think of an example or some concrete way of thinking of it. One of the thing I love about our community - in its many manifestations - is that it is steeped in the old. At the same time, it is open to the "new" in that nothing like our community would have existed or could have even been conceptualized in say, Benedict's time!
ReplyDeleteSo, on one, very important level, our community is an example of the intermingling of old and new. But at the same time, we seemingly are being called beyond that, to draw out more of both the new and the old from our midst.
I guess there is no way to try to imagine it in any concrete form. But rather just keep doing and keep praying.
The quote in the Rule is taken from Matthew 13, where the simile is a bit more concrete:
ReplyDelete"And Jesus said to them, "Therefore every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure things new and old."
From my little bit of reading, it seems that the phrase "out of his treasure things new and old" is a turn of phrase in Jesus' time for a great abundance, although the phrase seems to have a literal application too.
The main point in both the Gospel and of the Rule, as far as I can tell, is that the faithful study of "divine law," the Hebrew Scripture, adds to the spiritual wealth of one who is a disciple of the kingdom of heaven (the way of Jesus). This is in contrast to the "out with the old, in with the new" attitude regarding Scripture that has been present since the Jesus movement began.
In spiritual terms, I find as I continue to be formed in my discipleship to the kingdom of heaven that the stories in Scripture become my own. I see myself in and in light of them. A lovely example of this was when Gil told his story about the ravens and connected it to the story of Elijah, and then Thad offered the additional circumstances surrounding Elijah's raven encounter in 1 Kings 17, and Gil was left with the question, "what is the Jezebel you're running away from?" We saw how the knowledge of the Scripture shed light on a mystical experience.
None of what I'm saying is in conflict with your wonderful reflection, Ruth. I think that immersing ourselves in the Scriptures is one way we become steeped in the old, as it were. Thanks for your thoughts.