Call to Mindfulness

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Benedictine, mindfulness, monasteries without walls, silence, Sr. Joan Chittister, St. Benedict, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Unlike most of those holy people we call saints, the influence of Benedict (c. 480 – c.547), whom we celebrate today, has been constant in the Western world of monasticism for over 1500 years. In fact, Benedict’s influence in the wider world of spirituality is now likely more expansive than ever before. Groups are forming and calling themselves “monasteries without walls,” living life “in the world” while following the tenets of the Benedictine rule. People are in search of a model for living that calls to mindfulness and a balanced way of being that fits into “real life” – not necessarily hidden away in a monastery. They are finding such a way with Benedict.

Twenty years ago Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister wrote a book entitled, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today. It is a simple, straightforward work on how to live every day mindfully with examples of how to balance work and rest, community and silence, and much more… examples that can relate to all of us. Sister Joan has a paragraph that sums it up quite well and is easily explicable, I think, to anyone who desires a closer relationship to God while living in any lifestyle today.

And so Benedict calls all of us to mindfulness. No life is to be so busy that there is no time to take stock of it. No day is to be so full of business that the gospel dare not intrude. No schedule is to be so tight that there is no room for reflection on whether what is being done is worth doing at all. No work should be so all-consuming that nothing else can ever get in: not my husband, not my wife, not my hobbies, not my friends, not nature, not reading, not prayer. How shall we ever put on the mind of Christ if we never take time to determine what the mind of Christ was then and is now, for me? (p. 105)

Good question…

St. Benedict

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Hebrews, hospitality, Joan Chittister, monasteries without walls, monasticism, prayer, St. Benedict, the Benedictine Way, The Sophia Center for Spirituality, Thomas Keating, Thomas Merton, Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, work

There is much to say about St. Benedict, whose feast is today, known the world over as the man who brought monasticism to the western world. Although Benedict lived 1,500 years ago his influence is still felt and one might say is being proliferated more broadly than ever before because of a movement called “monasteries without walls.” Lay people who are interested in deepening their spiritual life often turn to The Rule of St. Benedict for guidance and a way to live his principles in secular society.

Most prominent in “the Benedictine Way” is ora et labora. That phrase, meaning “prayer and work” speaks of the balanced way in which the day is designed in his Rule. It includes work alone and work with others as well as prayer alone and prayer with others, experienced in a rhythm that gives not only form but meaning to each day and thus to all of life. (See Joan Chittister, OSB: Wisdom Distilled From the Daily, chapter 6 for a brilliant explanation of this concept.) In this world of excess for some and lack for others as well as in the use of time, we could do well to reflect on how we spend our days.

In tandem with this concept of balance is the call to hospitality. Based on Hebrews 13:2 that says “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for thereby some have entertained angels unawares,” St. Benedict preached the necessity of welcoming everyone that we meet. How our world would change today if we took that advice to heart!

As we think of the influence of well-known people in our own day like Joan Chittister, Thomas Merton and Thomas Keating who have followed the rule of Benedict and shared it with the world, let us pray in thanksgiving also for the countless Benedictine monks and nuns through the centuries who have lived the life and carried the legacy of Benedict faithfully into the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Great Legacy

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balanced living, community, hermit, hospitality, manual labor, monasteries without walls, monastery, monasticism, prayer, St. Benedict of Nursia, study, The Sophia Center for Spirituality

Today is the feast of St. Benedict of Nursia (480?-543) who is credited with bringing monasticism to the Western Hemisphere. Drawn to the monastic life, Benedict tried being a hermit but others were drawn to him and he began to imagine a community life where “various families of monks gathered together in one ‘Grand Monastery’ to give them the benefit of unity, fraternity and permanent worship in one house.”  (www.americancatholic.org) The structure that Benedict created – a balance of prayer, study, manual labor and community – has endured and flourished for 1500 years and has become a model for people seeking to live a balanced spiritual life. Not only is the rule of St. Benedict followed by women and men monastics the world over, but in our time there are new movements of “monasteries without walls” where lay people endeavor to live in the spirit of Benedict, gathering on a regular basis to strengthen their own prayer and balanced living practice. In addition to the four elements noted above which create a rhythm for each day, those who follow Benedict are steeped in the practice of hospitality, especially to travelers.

As I face today, I am grateful for Benedict and all those who follow his rule. I will observe my living of the four quadrants of prayer, study, labor and community as they are present in my day and endeavor to maintain that sense of balance as I interact with the workshop participants who have graced our Spiritual Center this weekend.