The Rule of St. Benedict: Chapter 7 pt. 1
Chapter 7 on humility is the longest in the Rule. Our Father Benedict understands humility to be the means by which we reach our home with God, or, differently put, the means by which we become a place where God is at home.
St. Benedict's path of humility is the kenotic path. St. Paul describes this self-emptying way in Philippians 2 in a hymn about Christ Jesus:
who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being born in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death--even death on a cross.
To follow the steps along this path, or to "climb" the rungs of this ladder, is the work of a lifetime. It is to be done in the midst of an intentional and supportive community--a community that knows the difference between ascent and descent.
Br. Chad
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