St. Benedict and the Regula
"Listen carefully, my son, to the master's instructions and attend to them with the ear of your heart."
So begins the Rule of St. Benedict, the rule that was designed by Benedict in the 6th century and intended as a guide for living in cooperation with the rhythm of the Holy that is in everyone's daily life. A modern version of the Rule begins
"Attend to these instructions, Listen with the heart and mind; they are provided in a spirit of goodwill. These words are addressed to anyone who is willing to renounce the delusion that the meaning of life can be learned; whoever is ready to take up the greater weapon of fidelity to a way of living that transcends understanding.
The first rule is simply this:
Live this life
and do whatever is done
in a spirit of Thanksgiving.
Abandon attempts to achieve security,
they are futile,
give up the search for wealth,
it is demeaning,
quit the search for salvation,
it is selfish,
and come to comfortable rest in the certainty that those who participate in this life with a heart of Thanksgiving will receive its full promise."
St. Benedict was writing to Christians who were interested in entering Christian monasteries and dedicating their lives to God in this intentional and somewhat separate way. So why would his Rule be of any interest to us?
I sense there are at least two reasons. First, the Rule helps build a structure that supports our life and relationship with God. Historian Ester de Waal said, "I know only too well from my own experience that a life without boundaries can never become a life that is constructive, creative, or life-giving."[1]
The Rule offers a structure, boundaries, that help us create space to cooperate with the rhythm and presence of God, the rhythm that is there if only we will stop and trust.
Another reason the Rule is important and helpful, is its claim that God is present in daily life - this very life "your very life. And God is not just present there, the Rule claims, but it's there that God finds us. It's in daily life that God blesses us, heals us, transforms us, and makes us blessing and life for others. It's in ordinary and daily life with God that faith matures and "is the stuff of which high sanctity can be made"[2]
The Rule of St. Benedict is important because it's a guide for the regular person and the average day. It's a guide, a structure, a way to create space to see and know God in the regular rhythm of daily life. The Rule supports what our Book of Common Prayer sets forth that all of life, from birth to death and the daily in between, is the place where God shows up and that it's holy.
I encourage you all to explore the Rule of St. Benedict. He is our namesake and his life and charism are a part of us, a part of our character. We would do well to honor God by trying to support our life together, as community and as individuals, by ordering our daily lives in such a way that there is space for God. So that there is space for God to make us a blessing to those around us and to a world that so longs to be welcomed home.
May God find you in the littleness of your daily life and bless you.
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