February 28

Chapter 22

The Rule of St. Benedict February 28

Long ago Benedictines saw fit to re-imagine this chapter and adopt cells for sleeping quarters in monasteries rather than the dormitory Benedict describes here.  The re-imagining of the Rule is far from unprecedented.  The process of adaptation must be careful, however, to preserve the spirit behind the specific instructions when the specifics are set aside.

In the case of the Canon Communities of St. Benedict, Benedictine life is re-imagined once again.  Here the very notion of living in a monastery is set aside, but what is preserved is the mutual support and encouragement along the path of Benedictine spiritual formation, which, I believe, is the spirit behind this chapter.

Ours is to be a community in which gentle encouragement is the posture the members assume with each other.  We each have a "bed" out of which we struggle to rise, and we each have a kind nudge to apply to a brother or sister.

Br. Chad 2013

February 27

Feast of George Herbert, Priest and Poet

Chapter 21

The Rule of St. Benedict February 27

One can't spend much time exploring Benedictine spirituality before one must confront the issue of authority in the Rule.  St. Benedict is not shy about the topic, and his intentions for community hinge upon a very specific vision of how authority is to be held and exercised.

This chapter about deans is a good example of this vision.  Authority is never held for its own sake, but for the sake of the community.  And one function of Benedictine authority is to empower others to develop into the people they are created to be.  When a member of the community is created to be a leader, then those in authority must empower that person to lead, and the way that a person is empowered to lead is by being given a share in the authority of the community.  The provision in this chapter for the appointment of deans is a mechanism by which such empowerment takes place in Benedictine community.

Our Father Benedict is a wise and able abbot who understands that the well-being of a community is enhanced by the sharing of authority for the sake of all.  But he also understands that with the distribution of power comes the lust for power, and that all authority must be kept closely in check if it is to remain Christlike rather than Caesar-like.

Br. Chad 2013

February 26

Chapter 20

The Rule of St. Benedict February 26

I've always balked a bit at St. Benedict's analogy comparing God to a Roman noble in this chapter, yet I now find myself able to relate to the relational dynamic I think he's trying to capture.  Two elements of this dynamic play out in my life every day.

First, it plays out through the sanctification of physical space for prayer.  I step out of my casual way of being and into a formal one.  Having taken religious vows and been clothed with a habit, I experience this difference in the simple act of putting on and taking off my habit.  I also enlist the aid of sacred objects such as icons, crucifixes, beads, and stones along with candles and incense to create a sense of space that is set apart from, say, my toiletries or computer.

Second, it plays out through the brevity of prayer that our Father Benedict describes.  A noble requires nothing from me.  I don't come into the presence of the Queen of England and expect that she really needs me to be there.  She may desire my presence and welcome it, but it would be a delusion of grandeur to believe that my presence fulfills some unmet requirement in the life of the monarch.  My audience with the Divine is always open, and I am always met with a gracious and joyful welcome, but this welcome is a quality within God, not a reflection of my unique favorability.  I don't need, then, to puff myself up with words or linger like a beggar hoping for alms of Divine Grace.  I can move quickly in and out of prayer that is, in Benedict's words, "short and pure," without delusions about my role or my place in the Universe.

Br. Chad 2013

February 25

Feast of St. Matthias, The Apostle (transferred from 2/24)

Chapter 19

The Rule of St. Benedict February 25

In my experience, there comes a point in the practice of praying the Daily Office, after processing and deconstructing all of the ways in which the Psalms challenge our personal and cultural notions of prayer and propriety, when my mind feels restored to childlike trust in the words.  I move among the verses like I move among a forest, breathing deeply the scent of pine, climbing over rocks, drinking from a brook, resting on a log.  I am free from my need to understand the details of the ecosystem.  I don't pretend that I am a tree or let my body decompose into the topsoil in order to belong here. I am a part of the same creation.  It is made for me, and I for it.

Our Father Benedict uses the word "harmony" to describe the intended relationship between our mind and our voice when we chant the Psalms.  He could have used the word "unison" or implied a clear hierarchy between the psalmody and our mind, but he did not.  Harmony is a good fruit of a relationship between distinct entities.  We are not to pretend that we are not who we are when we pray. We are to be precisely who we are in the sight of the Godhead and all Angels, and we are to walk slowly and deliberately into the forest of verses like a child among the pines, without apology and without excuse, but with wonder and peace.

Br. Chad 2013

February 24

Chapter 18 pt. 4

The Rule of St. Benedict February 24

I find it hard to improve upon the synopsis of Chapter 18 given by Sr. Joan Chittister in her commentary today.  She writes,

Benedict implies very clearly in this chapter on the order of the psalms that a full prayer life must be based on a total immersion in all the life experiences to which the psalms are a response. . . . The Benedictine is not to pick and choose at random the psalms that will be said. The Benedictine is not to pick some psalms but not others. The Benedictine is to pray the entire psalter in an orderly way, regardless of mood, irrespective of impulses, despite personal preferences. Anything other than regular recitation and total immersion in the psalms is, to Benedict's way of thinking, spiritual sloth. Ours is to be a full spiritual palate. Readings may be shortened if situations warrant but the psalms never. We are to tap into every human situation that the psalms describe and learn to respond to them with an open soul, an unfettered heart and out of the mind of God.

Our Benedictine canon community uses a 4-week cycle of psalms that can be found in the Book of Common Prayer Psalter.  It goes linearly through the Psalter, from beginning to end, assigning psalms to days of the month.  If you notice, for example, in the BCP on p. 766 at the top it says: Twenty-fifth Day: Morning Prayer, and then on p. 769 near the middle it says Twenty-fifth Day: Evening Prayer.  This cycle helps to give a feeling of really moving through the "full spiritual palate" of the psalms in a few short weeks, and is perfect for us non-cloistered Benedictines.

Br. Chad 2013

February 23

Feast of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna

Chapter 18 pt. 3

The Rule of St. Benedict February 23

When working with dreams, one is often led to reflect upon what aspects of oneself are depicted in each character within the dream.  It has been posited that dreams, unencumbered by our wakeful, conscious thoughts, are an ideal venue for the unconscious mind to express itself.  It does so by projecting the thoughts and emotions it contains into the images and stories we experience as dreams.  So, in the course of dream work, it is appropriate to unpack through reflection what might be going on in my unconscious that would express itself in this way or that through a dream.

The Psalms are similar to dreams in that they too are a venue through which the unconscious seeks to be expressed.  Just as I ask myself how the threatening creature from my dream relates to my unconscious fears, I inquire within to find where "the wicked" or "the enemy" resides among my repressed emotions and thoughts.  In this way, even the imprecatory Psalms can be a powerful tool in the process of inner transformation, bringing me from a place of needing to point the finger at evil "out there" and away from me, to a place of compassion that comes from facing the evil within.

Br. Chad 2013

February 22

Chapter 18 pt. 2

The Rule of St. Benedict February 22

Some days have the weight of death.  The phone call comes, the doorbell rings, and your world feels like it is crumbling all around you.  Nothing can be undone.  You can't get around it.  Things will not be the same.

On days like this, the same Psalms you pray every day become the voice of your new anguish, your sorrows, your painful, desperate hopes.

To you I lift up my eyes,

to you enthroned in the heavens.

Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy,

for we have had more than enough of contempt.

If the LORD had not been our our side . . .

Then would the raging waters

have gone right over us.

Those who trust in the LORD are like mount Zion,

which cannot be moved, but stands fast for ever.

Those who sowed with tears

will reap with songs of joy.

Those who go out weeping, carrying the seed,

will come again with joy, shouldering their sheaves.

Unless the LORD watches over the city,

in vain the watchman keeps his vigil.

Happy are all who fear the LORD . . .

You shall eat the fruit of your labor . . .

your children like olive shoots round about your table.

Br. Chad 2013