Laws and Rules

"Law is simply a candle on the path of life to lead to the good we seek."  Obedience to the law is not an end in itself; when it becomes the end, it becomes an idol. Obedience to the law should lead to greater good.

"There is a meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler." ~Dietrich Bonhoeffer

From this day forward

During the first year, a  novice listens to the rule read through completely at three points; reading The Rule of St. Benedict: Insights for the Ages, our prayer community read through the rule three times in our first year.  At the end of the year -- a year which marked the end of the commitment we had made to this study -- we discussed the desire to continue.  When we met last Wednesday, we shared what this decision meant to each of us.  To me it meant a recognition that I was no longer just studying St. Benedict; St. Benedict's wisdom has become about finding a way of living and being and searching.  As Sr Joan says in her commentary, it's about becoming the person who will act -- even in the most stressful and dire of circumstances -- as a Christ-filled person.  The discipline has become about building habits of character and conscience. So each day, I re-commit to being Christ centered.

Gifts and Humility

Last spring during class, a student and I came to a point in the discussion in which she claimed that she really felt proud of her self for mastering a chapter on her own.  St. Benedict whispered in my ear that day, and her comment launched a discussion.  Should we feel proud of our accomplishments? Our culture, the world of the classroom, today's language of child-rearing, all point to building self-esteem by building pride in success. However, today's reading in the Rule seems to run counter to this culture of individual pride and self esteem.  The glow of success -- our pride --  motivates and encourages us to keep moving, to grow, to take on greater challenges and reap greater successes.  My classroom handed me these same arguments.  I countered that this glow of success should not be pride.  Pride says I did it all by myself; pride claims that I get all the credit; pride lets go of the hands that brought me thus far on the journey.  I countered that the glow of success should be gratitude.  Gratitude acknowledges the distance I have come and the skills that I have achieved but also acknowledges that this has been possible only because of the gifts others have given me: the gifts of time and space and resources, the gifts of my teacher's talents and knowledge and skills, the gifts of mentors who walked with me as I grew and my gifts blossomed, the gifts of those hands that held me up until I could stand alone.  Because of the blessings of time and space and mentors and a hundred other gifts, our own gifts and talents grow.  Today's reading made me think that the humility of the artist is rooted in this gratitude.

Let us give thanks to all those who made all the success of our lives a possibility.  Amen

Bev