August 22

Chapter 65 pt. 1

The Rule of Benedict August 22

Benedict was no stranger to the nitty gritty of institutional authority dynamics.  Clearly he had seen enough trouble around the issue of appointing a Prior that he saw fit in this passage to shed light on the primary circumstances surrounding that trouble.  But as I said in April, the root of this trouble is deeper and more basic to the human experience than the circumstances described here.  The root is self-interest attached to a position of leadership.  When leadership is exercised in the interest of the leader, it is not leadership in the spirit of Christ.