Turning Around

What can be sweeter to us, dear brothers, than this voice of the Lord inviting us? Behold in his loving kindness the Lord shows us the way of life. Having our loins, therefore, girded with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk in his paths by the guidance of the Gospel, that we may deserve to see him who has called us in his kingdom (1 Thess. 2:12). And if we wish to dwell in the tabernacle of this kingdom, we shall never reach it unless we run there by our good deeds.[1]

Some passages in the rule tend to get lost in the old language more than others. This is one of those passages. Yet, when I persevere, the meaning becomes clear and even more profound. Here Benedict reminds us again of the importance of the call to the spiritual life, and of our necessary response to that call. In just a few short sentences he essentially gives us a summary of what the spiritual life is all about. Yet, for us to hear that message clearly we need to let go of some of our preconceptions —some of our accretions about the meaning of the religious language and the writing style.

“What can be sweeter to us, dear brothers, than this voice of the Lord inviting us?” Clearly being called by God is something that is “sweet,” and something that most of us seek. I suspect even an agnostic would welcome, albeit with some discomfort, a clear and undeniable call from the great Mysterious Creator of the universe. The problem is, few of us have that clear and direct experience. Most of us struggle to hear the Divine Whisper in moments of quiet in the midst of our busy, noisy lives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Very few monks take a vow of silence, but they do practice a discipline referred to as restraint of speech. In many monasteries the monks eat their meals in silence. There is also what is called the great silence which begins after evening prayers and ends after breakfast. Other periods of silence are built into their daily routine and times of prayer. These times of silence permeate the monastic day and help the monk to stay centered and focused. Those of us living in the busy, noise filled modern world could benefit greatly from such regular periods of silence built into our day.

But the discipline of restraint of speech means much more than that. Dennis Okholm puts it this way:

When words were necessary, Benedict[1] exhorted them, they [monks] should speak rarely, briefly, directly, and simply; speech that was malicious, gossip, tasteless, or destructive was forbidden. As Columba Steward explains, “The issue becomes more clearly one of stewardship. Language is a gift that can be used thoughtfully or thoughtlessly, humbly or proudly. Someone constantly aware of the presence of God will know when and how to speak.”[2]

If we think that working periods of silence into our busy schedule is difficult, it is a cakewalk compared to this type of restraint of speech. What might it mean if we considered restraint of speech as a spiritual discipline in our day to day lives?

Read the rest of this entry »

And the Lord, seeking his own workman in the multitude of the people to whom he cries out, says again: Who is it who longs for life, and desires to see good days (Psalm 34:12)? And if you, hearing him, answer, “I am the one!” God says to you: If you long for true and everlasting life, keep you tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn aside from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it (Psalm 34:13-14). And when you have done these things, my eyes will be upon you, and my ears will be open to your prayers; and before you call upon me, I will say unto you, Behold, I am here (Isa. 58:9).[1]

In this short passage Benedict calls us again to the spiritual life, tells us succinctly what our initial response must be, and presents us with a promise should we take up the challenge. The call, the response, and the promise are laid out very simply, so simply in fact that we could easily miss the profound nature of his message.

Yet, before he even makes the call Benedict reminds us that the call is both personal and difficult. The call is for “a workman out of the multitude.” The call is not just to the “multitude of people,” but to each of us personally and individually. In the same few words he reminds us that the spiritual life is hard work and that work is specific to each of us individually. Right up front we are reminded that it is not enough for us to just say “yes” to this call and continue to live our lives as we have before. What is required here is for us to say “yes” to the very real work of actually living our lives spiritually.

Read the rest of this entry »

Let us then at last arise, since the Scripture stirs us up saying: It is time now for us to rise from sleep (Rom 13:11). And our eyes being open to the deifying light, let us hear with wondering ears what the Divine Voice admonishes us, daily crying out: Today if you hear his voice, harden not your hearts (Psalm 95:7-8). And again, You who have ears to hear, hear what the Spirit says to the Churches (Rev. 2:7). And what does he say? Come my children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Psalm 34:12). Run while you have the light of life, lest the darkness of death seize hold of you (John 12:35).[1]

Arise! Rise from sleep! Hear! Stirs us up! Run! These are all action words that call us profoundly to take the spiritual life very seriously. As we can see from the multiple Scripture quotes Benedict uses, this call to arise or awaken is found all through Christian Scripture. It is also found in the writings of spiritual masters and guides throughout history. The words are different, but the same call is found in other religious traditions as well. It is a foundational spiritual principle that we need to be reminded of again and again.

But arise from what? It is interesting to me to remember that The Rule was written for monks—for people who had already committed themselves to a monastic order and to live their lives in a monastery for the express purpose of focusing on their relationship with God and on their spiritual growth. One could argue that Benedict’s audience had already chosen the extreme option in their spiritual lives, and yet early in the Rule Benedict still feels the need to be very clear in reminding the monks under his direction to “rise from sleep,” to “hear…the Divine Voice,” and to “run” in their response to the Divine call.

Read the rest of this entry »

To take the spiritual life seriously is to be called to rethink everything. Spiritual practice will cause us to rethink both our understanding of who God is for us and our understanding of how we are to live our lives. If we continue to listen to that Sacred Inner Voice that gives us guidance and strength and courage, and, if we are obedient to that Voice, we will find ourselves called to let go of our current understanding and rethink these things again and again. If we are true to this process we will find ourselves called to rethink even the idea that we can or need to understand at all. We will be called to become more and more comfortable with a great Mystery that transcends our ability to think and understand. We will be called, as one ancient anonymous writer put it, to submit our rethinking into “a cloud of forgetting” and live more and more in “the cloud of unknowing.”

I have recently retired, and one of the things that has brought is what might be called a crisis of rethinking. Finding myself at home all the time has caused Winnie and I to rethink our relationship. That has generated much struggle and much growth. It has caused me to rethink how my home, especially the rooms I use most, are organized and decorated. It has caused me to rethink not only what I eat, but how much I go out to eat. All of that has generated much discussion and many projects. Every time I think we are settling into a new routine in some area I find myself having to rethink something one more time. From a spiritual perspective what makes all of this more difficult is that every time I think I have it figured out that Sacred Inner Voice “interferes” and calls me to move beyond my own ego in all of this and go deeper.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the first place, whenever you begin any good work, beg of him with most earnest prayer to perfect it; so that he who has now granted us the dignity of being counted in the number of his children may not at any time be grieved by our evil deeds. For we must always so serve him with the good things he has given us, that not only may he never, as an angry father, disinherit his children; but may never as a dread Lord, incensed by our sins, deliver us to everlasting punishment as most wicked servants who would not follow him to glory.[1]

Reflection:

Ultimately our lives consist of a series of events and encounters with the people and things in our surroundings. These events and encounters follow one after the other as we go through our day and our life. Suppose at the beginning of each event and encounter we were to “beg of him with most earnest prayer to perfect it?” Beyond even that, suppose we consciously chose as our life work to “follow him to glory?” What kind of change and transformation and conversion of heart might that require and bring about? Benedict challenges us to answer these questions, and he suggests that our answers have the direst of consequences for our life. At the same time he seems to accept those consequences as an inevitable result of the choices we make in our life. Like much on the spiritual journey these ideas may strike us as extreme, and sometimes even frightening. We want an easier answer that does not require so much of us.

Read the rest of this entry »

The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders
By Jacob Needleman

If I had money I would send copies of this book to every government official I could think of beginning with the President, the members of Congress, and members of the Supreme Court. It speaks volumes about what Needleman calls “the American Experiment” and how critically important it is in the world. Were we to take Needleman’s insights seriously we would have to profoundly rethink our understanding of the very meaning of liberty and freedom and democracy. He uses such personages as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Abraham Lincoln to challenge us to rediscover “the Wisdom of the Founders” and what brought this nation into being. Is it possible, as Needleman suggests, that the individual spiritual journey was an integral part of the “American Experiment” as it was envisioned by the founders of this great nation? The book is a must on any reading list.

Needleman, Jacob, The American Soul: Rediscovering the Wisdom of the Founders, (New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam, 2002).

I know that living the spiritual life calls me in the most profound way to seek guidance, support, and courage in my spiritual practice and then to have the courage to take that guidance into even the most mundane events and encounters of my day. The Rule of Saint Benedict calls to me saying: “In the first place, whenever you begin any good work, beg of him with most earnest prayer to perfect it…”[1] I know in the deepest part of myself that I am called to do that, but right now that calling leaves me deeply conflicted.

Some would, perhaps wisely, suggest that I not bring politics into this newsletter, but this calling still troubles me, and my wife frequently notes that I often “rush in where angels fear to tread.” Clearly voting in a country such as ours is a “good work” that calls me to “beg of him with most earnest prayer” to perfect that work. Given the great influence and power of this country the outcome of this next election has tremendous implications for our world and for individual people in this country, in Iraq, in the Middle East, and all around the globe.

Read the rest of this entry »

Lost Christianity: A Journey of Rediscovery to the Centre of Christian Experience
by Jacob Needleman

This book changed my life. It is the single most important book in my personal spiritual journey. It confirmed and greatly deepened my experience of the spiritual journey. It is one of the few books that I come back to over and over again, and each time I find some new insight, and each time I sense that there is much more to be found there. Needleman confirms my own profound sense that there is something absolutely essential that is lost from Christianity today, but he also confirms in a most powerful way that it is there to be rediscovered. But for this book I think I would have walked away from Christianity entirely. There is the very real sense that I found some essential part of my own soul in Needleman’s search for “the center of christian experience.”

Needleman, Jacob, Lost Christianity: A Journey of Rediscovery to the Centre of Christian Experience. (Rockport, Massachusetts: Element, 1993).

Listen, O my son to the precepts of the master, and incline the ear of your heart: willingly receive and faithfully fulfill the admonition of your loving father; that you may return by the labor of obedience to him from whom you had departed through the sloth of disobedience. To you therefore, my words are now addressed, whoever you are, that renouncing your own will, you take up the strong and bright weapons of obedience, in order to fight for the Lord Christ, our true King.[1]

Reflection:

Much is covered in these first two sentences of The Rule. Listening, obedience, sloth, and will are all concepts that cut to the heart of spiritual practice, and Benedict has strung them together in a profound way that is challenging and even disturbing to the modern seeker. I put it this way in my journal some time ago:

Read the rest of this entry »