The Rule of Benedict November 12
I'm struck by the opening lines of this chapter:
Let the brethren serve one another,
and let no one be excused from the kitchen service . . .
For this service brings increase of reward and of charity.
Kitchen service is among the least specialized or esoteric practice in the monastery, yet the formational value of overtly serving one's sisters and brothers in this way is high. As I have mentioned before, during the first week of my stay at St. Gregory's Abbey in July, the Abbot of the community served as one of the kitchen servers--standing at the back of the refectory, clearing each plate, each cup, each piece of silverware as we finished, eating his meal after everyone else was dismissed. One could see how such service acts to demolish any class system.
We would all do well to attend to the ways in which we can offer humble, charity-growing service in our own contexts.
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