Part Four:
Staying Focused on Christ:
A Life of Structure, Moderation and
Balance
“In drawing up [the Rule’s] regulations we hope
to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.”
-
Prol. 46
It is written: Distribution
was made as each one had need
. . .
-
Acts 4:35
Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed,
but whoever needs more should feel humble because of his/her weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown him/her.
-
RB 34:1, 3-4
“The community should have specified periods for
manual labor as well as for prayerful reading.”
- RB 48:1
We live in an era of labor saving devices and yet we seem to labor all
the time. We live in an era of
instant communication but we often feel lonely and disconnected.
We have as many hours in the day as people in any age and yet often we
feel there isn’t enough time in the day.
We live in the richest country in the world with one of the highest
standards of living and yet we are constantly exhorted with messages that our
lives will be incomplete unless we buy and consume more and more.
Is it any wonder that most of us seem to be searching for deeper meaning
in our lives, some sense of peace, fulfillment and deeper relationship to God?
Although Benedict’s time obviously did not have the fast-paced frenzy
of our own, his was also a time of tremendous change and chaos.
In the midst of the vast upheavals and changes of his era Benedict
realized that a life of structure, balance and moderation was the necessary
framework to create a life focused on God.
In part Benedict was reacting to the excessive asceticism that had marked
monastic life up to the 6th century. The
early monastics who went to the deserts in the 3rd and 4th centuries often tried
to outdo each other in feats of asceticism.
They would fast extensively, spend hours in prayer, beg for alms, go for
long periods without human contact. While
many of these men and women became deeply holy as a result of these practices,
Benedict realized that most of us are not called to and cannot sustain an
extremely ascetic lifestyle.
Benedict tried to create a life of moderation and balance for ordinary
people who want to come to a deeper knowledge and love of God.
The structure he created is as applicable to busy, modern men and women
as it was for Benedict’s monks. Benedict’s
Rule gives us guidance for living a life of balance and moderation.
Questions for Reflection:
- What is your life like?
Is it an example of moderation and balance?
As you look at your daily schedule what areas seem out of balance?
How Do We Create A Balance of Work and Prayer in Our Lives?
It is easy to fall
into a trap of believing that prayer is something that we will do “when we
have time” and of course we then never quite have the time. We seldom have trouble scheduling our work time or even our
television time and then not deviating from that schedule. But
it is harder to make our time for prayer as set and inviolable as the time for
our favorite TV show. It is easy to
see prayer as one of those “good things” that we should do more, along with
exercising, eating right and taking better care of ourselves.
It is seldom the center of our lives.
For Benedict though, the whole day revolved around the schedule for
prayer. Meals, work, leisure and
all other aspects of the monastic life were adapted to the prayer schedule.
As far as Benedict was concerned the life of the monastic was centered
and grounded in prayer. He adopted the ancient practice of praying seven times a day
(RB 16) and established an extensive set of guidelines for community prayer.
This schedule of prayer sounds very burdensome to modern ears and many
monastic communities have shortened community prayer from seven times a day to
three or four. What is important
though is not so much the exact number of times for prayer that Benedict
prescribes but the structure, balance and nature of prayer that he creates.
For Benedict, prayer had to be at regular times.
Prayer was not something that his monks did “when they could” or
“when they got a chance” or “when they were less busy.” Prayer happened at particular times, regularly, without
fail. When they heard the signal
for prayer monastics were to leave everything and immediately proceed to the
oratory (chapel) for the Opus Dei, communal prayer.
We know that we don’t go to work only when we feel like it and yet as
Christians our true “work” is prayer. Prayer
is the work that feeds us, sustains and challenges us. It is not optional; it is the way we grow in faith.
So is prayer something rigid and inviolable to be pursued without
flexibility? Benedict did not think
so. Even though he treated the
community prayer with the utmost gravity, he allowed plenty of room for human
need and weakness. In the summer
when nights were shorter, he said that prayers should also be shorter since the
monks had less time to sleep. (RB 10:2) He
also emphasized “moderation” in the number of Psalms prayed during Vigils,
the prayer during the middle of the night, so that everyone could get the sleep
they needed. (RB 11:2)
Prayer for Benedict was also
a matter of quality, not quantity. Our
prayer life is not necessarily better just because we pray more. “Prayer should therefore be short and pure, unless perhaps
it is prolonged under the inspiration of divine grace.” (RB 20:4) We
don’t even have the excuse of not having enough time.
What is important is not creating a daily “quota” for our prayer but
having our prayer be regular, moderate and sincere.
Questions for Reflection:
- Describe your prayer
life. How do you pray? Where do you pray? Do you have regular times for prayer?
Do you ever not pray because you don’t have enough time?
If you haven’t already can you make a commitment to a realistic, humane
prayer schedule? What would it look
like?
All We Need But Not All We Want:
We live in a culture that seems to tell us we are what we consume
and our status is based on what we possess.
We are bombarded with commercials telling us that we can only be happy if
we drive the right car, eat the right cereal and use the newest version of the
latest technological gadget. This
consumer culture is completely and totally foreign to the way of life that
Benedict set out to establish.
Consciously or unconsciously most of us are defined by our possessions.
Even if we try to live simple lives, our culture pushes us to own, use,
buy and consume more. This makes Benedict’s attitude of “just enough” quite
radical in a consumer oriented, First World lifestyle.
In Benedict’s Rule we do not see the idea that possessions define our
lives; in Benedict’s monastery no one competes to own the most or the least.
Material goods are the things needed to provide a simple, basic,
comfortable lifestyle, no more, no less. Whereas
early monastics emphasized how little they could eat, drink, sleep or own,
Benedict knew that to grow in wholeness and holiness we need just enough of each
of these. Not too much, not too little, just enough.
This attitude is shown in Benedict’s attention to details. People in the 6th century customarily slept together but each
monastic in Benedict’s community was to have his/her own bed. (RB 22:1) Living
by the standards of the poorest in society does not guarantee an atmosphere
conducive to prayer nor does having more space than we need.
Benedict’s attitude toward clothing is similar. Benedict is not trying
to see how little monastics can get by with.
The poor of the day may have owned only one set of clothing but Benedict
provides for two sets of clothes for each community member.
When they receive new clothes, they give the old ones to the poor. (RB
55:9-10) However, if a monastic is
found to have more than the allotted amount of clothes, the the abbot or
prioress can take away the excess. (RB 55:11)
Food likewise is a matter of
moderation, not starvation, not gluttony. Whereas
most of us struggle with an over abundance of food in our lives, this was not
the problem in Benedict’s culture. While
it might have been easy for Benedict to try and make a virtue out of necessity
and limit the amount of food his monks ate as a spiritual discipline, he
doesn’t. Instead food is
something that should be enough to satisfy everyone of a variety of tastes and
temperaments so that everyone can have enough.
The common table is to have at least two kinds of cooked food so that if
a monk didn’t like one dish, he could eat the other. (RB 39:1-4)
The standard that Benedict seems to strive for is that each person have
“enough” or what is “sufficient,” whether that is bedding, clothes, food
or any other possessions. Unlike
people in our modern world Benedict’s monks were not defined by how much they
owned or consumed. They had all
they needed, no more no less, allowing them to be consumed by their passion for
God rather than their passion for possessions.
Questions for Reflection:
- Do a review of your own
life in terms of what you own and consume.
Do you have enough? Not
enough? Too much?
Is the amount of food and drink “sufficient” for your needs or is
there a lack of moderation?
- Benedict allows the abbot
or prioress of a monastery to take away a monastics extra clothes if he or she
has more than two outfits. What
would happen if someone looked in your closet?
What is a “sufficient” amount of clothes and shoes for you in your
life now?
- Are there any changes in
your life you feel called to make after prayerful reflection on this?
How to Work to Live Without Living to Work
Perhaps as much or more than possessions we are defined by our
work. Working too hard can almost
be a point of pride. Our status is
determined by the type of work we do, how much money we make and how hard we
work. Our work provides a large
part of our sense of self-worth and self-image.
To lack meaningful work is to question our basic sense of self.
Like many attitudes in our culture this understanding of work is
completely alien to the understanding of the Rule of Benedict.
For Benedict work was an important part of the life of everyone in the
community. He sets forth specified
hours during which everyone was to work (RB 48:1-3) and gave guidelines for the
various chores that needed to be done. However,
unlike most of us, Benedict did not see work as what defined his monks and gave
their life meaning. Work was
important in so far as it supported life community and the common life seeking
God. Work was meant to enable the
life centered on God and prayer, work was not to be an end in itself.
For Benedict the key attitude in all types of work is humility.
Humility is the key to much of Benedictine spirituality.
Humility allows us to reach that place where we are not the center of the
universe. Instead of seeing
everything in terms of our own needs, desires and egotism, we become focused on
God and others rather than on ourselves. In
the Rule work is supposed to reflect this humility.
Each one is to do what the abbot or prioress says for the good of the
community and not out of pride.
Perhaps the clearest example of this attitude toward work is the
description of the cellarer, the person in charge of all the material goods of
the monastery. The cellarer was to
be someone “...not prone to greed, nor wasteful and extravagant with the goods
of the monastery, but [who will] do everything with moderation and according to
the abbot’s orders.” The
cellarer is described as someone who does the job promptly, with courtesy, and
special concern for those on the fringes of the community, the elderly, sick,
guests and poor. Humility is to be
the defining characteristic of the cellarer.
He or she is helping the monastery run smoothly so that everyone can be
focused on seeking God rather than worrying about meals, tools, utensils and
other details. The cellarer is not
focused on the job, but on how the work builds up the community.
Every aspect of our life reflects our spirituality, our relationship with
God. Benedictine spirituality tries to
create a life that is structured, balanced and moderate.
We all need a schedule that is clear, humane and flexible enough to
support our desire to live with God at our center.
Our work should be important and fulfilling but not an all consuming
source of our identity and meaning. We
need to have our material needs met in such a way that provides balance.
We need enough so that life isn’t burdensome but not so much that we
are owned by our possessions. Like
everything in the Benedictine way of life, moderation and balance are life time
goals, not something we achieve once and for all.
Questions for Reflection:
- What is your attitude
toward work? Do you work to live or
live to work?
- Is your work life
characterized by balance and moderation? If
not, what could you do to make it more balanced?
- What would it mean to be
humble in your line of work?
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Benedictine
Sisters, Monastery of St. Gertrude, Cottonwood, Idaho
