We would see Jesus.

This Wednesday, we looked at the four kinds of monks that Benedict describes in the rule.  Benedict describes the lives of each of these monks and the means by which they seek Christ, and admonishes those whose path lacks depth or commitment.  And so,we asked what kind of seekers are we, in this community?  How are we Benedictine?  How are we Christians?  Are we committed to a deepening faith?  How does are commitment to the group deepen are faith?  We began to answer.  I think we each will continue to ponder.

We have been sanctified by the church. To be sanctified is to be made holy, to be separated out from ordinary for the work and use of God.  We separate ourselves out for holy time and space to grow together in Christ; we are a community of Christians, and in this we are Christians as Benedict envisioned being followers of Christ.  Over and over, we see Christ in one another and we become Christ for one another.  We would see Jesus in our midst and in the face of others.  To show up each week is to be Christ for one another and to let others be Christ for us.  Often fear of intimacy or responsibility holds us back from this kind of connection.  We also remember that each of us is responsible for our own discipline in the reading of the Word and the reading of the Rule.  It is this discipline of prayer that connects us, but it is also this discipline the strengthens us and helps us to grow.

Sr. Joan shares these words of wisdom:

The ancients say that once upon a time a disciple asked the elder,

"Holy One, is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?"

And the Holy One answered, "As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning."

"Then of what use," the surprised disciple asked, "are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?"

"To make sure," the elder said, "that you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."

The Rule prescribes directions that will keep us, like the mythical disciple, awake until what we live, lives in us.