Chapter 43 pt. 2
The Rule of St. Benedict July 23
Sr. Joan Chittister's commentary on this second half of Chapter 43 is worth reading in full. Do so here. She writes,
In Benedictine spirituality, . . . the sacramental value of a meal is that the human concern we promise daily at the altar is demonstrated in the dining room where we prepare and serve and clean up after one another.and further,
The meal becomes the sanctifying center that reminds us, day in and day out, that unless we go on building the community around us, participating in it and bearing its burdens, then the words, "family" and "humanity" become a sham, no matter how good our work at the office, no matter how important our work in the world around us.Presence at table is an imperative in any household that seeks to walk the path of our Father Benedict. And by "presence" I mean fully awake, conscious engagement with the realities at hand, seen and unseen. This is true in a household of one or in a household of many. The Benedictine is to honor the table as a sacramental focal point wherein the invisible is manifest among the visible.
Br. Chad 2012
So true that we have lost the purpose of the meal - we eat on the run, or standing up at the counter, or the drive-thru.. So, how do we eat and what does it mean to share a table.
ReplyDeleteI am going to practice presence at the table each time I sit to eat. This is my how and the meaning I assign to sharing the table. I find much help from Thich Nhat Hanh's reflections on mindful eating as a practice. He writes, in Living Buddha, Living Christ, "In Buddhist monasteries, we eat our meals in silence to make it easier to give our full attention to the food and to the other members of the community who are present." I see this as another perspective on the value that St. Benedict places on the common table. And such mindful eating can also be practiced when one is "alone" (which is never really the case : ).
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