Life does not add up: the longer I live, the more that is brought home to me.
This book is recommended reading for Benedictine oblates at the Mt Angel abbey near my home. It speaks of our deep need to be healed and whole in life. Indeed, the world gives us many books, classes, and ways in which we can be healed once and for all. The Benedictine way shows us how to find balance and rhythm in living with the contradictions, unresolved issues, and paradoxes of life.
The greatest paradox of all is the paschal mystery; Christ's death and resurrection.
The Christ on the cross is the ultimate contradiction, holding together the vertical, pointing towards the Father, and the horizontal arms stretching out to the world. This is the Christ to whom St. Benedict is pointing.
We need not be caught between naive hope and meaningless despair. This book emphasizes contemplation, service for others, and balance within myself and my relationships. Listening rather than imposing our own agendas helps us to love and appreciate others.
Another aspect of Benedictine spirituality is humility. Humility is facing the truth rather than hiding behind illusions and self-deceptions. Humility is letting God be God. Shedding false ambition and pride and other destructive tendencies is the beginning of real communion with God.
This is the first book I have read on Benedictine spirituality and found it quite liberating. It does not deny the tough stuff, try to gloss over pain, or give simple answers to life's often agonizing questions. So much of the Christian healing seems steeped in denial and it was refreshing to see St. Benedictine's way does not go down this same tiresome road. I am looking forward to reading A Guide to Living in the Truth: St. Benedict's Teaching on Humility by Michael Casey.
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