BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//eriebenedictines.org//NONSGML kigkonsult.se iCalcreator 2.30.10// CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH UID:ba55a42e-f25d-4e6d-a9f9-d0e4ca5804de X-WR-CALDESC:'Everyone has personal gifts from God\, one this and anothe r that (1 Cor 7:7).' It is\, therefore\, with some uneasiness that we spec ify the amount of food and drink for others. However\, with due regard for the infirmities of the sick\, we believe that a half bottle of wine a day is sufficient for each. But those to whom God gives the strength to absta in must know that they will earn their own reward.\n\nThe Rule of Bene dict does not pretend to know the sacrifices that each of us needs to make in life. A tale from the Sufi may explain why\, in the face of multiple s piritual disciplines\, all of which specify many and sundry exercises as b asic to the spiritual life\, Benedict avoids this road of defined penances . 'How shall we ever change\,' the disciples asked\, 'if we have no goals? ' And the master said\, 'Change that is real is change that is not willed. Face reality and unwilled change will happen.'\n\nIt is so easy to make c osmetic changes in the name of religion. It is so easy to make up rules an d keep them so that we can feel good about doing something measurable in t he spiritual life. We can fast and fast and fast from food or drink and no thing changes because fasting from food is not what we really need at that moment to turn our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. We can kneel and k neel and kneel but nothing changes because kneeling is not what we need to soften our souls just then. We can fast and kneel and tithe and nothing c hanges because we do not really want anything to change.\n\nGrowth is not an accident. Growth is a process. We have to want to grow. We have to will to move away the stones that entomb us in ourselves. We have to work at u prooting the weeds that are smothering good growth in ourselves. Benedict doesn't tell us how much to eat. He simply provides the food and trusts us to make a choice to discipline ourselves somehow\, someway\, so that we d o not sink into a mire of self-satisfaction so thick that there is no resc ue for our sated souls.\n\nThe abbot or prioress will determine when lo cal conditions\, work or the summer heat indicates the need for a greater amount. They must\, in any case take great care lest excess or drunkenness creep in. We read that monastics should not drink wine at all\, but since the monastics of our day cannot be convinced of this\, let us at least ag ree to drink moderately\, and not to the point of excess\, for 'wine makes even the wise go astray (Sir 19:2).'\n\nThe Rule of Benedict devotes itself more to the virtue of moderation than it does to the anesthetizing of the soul that can come with mortification. To forego a thing completely is to prepare to forget it. If I never eat another piece of chocolate\, I may forget all about chocolate but I may also soon substitute something e ven more dangerous for its taste: drugs\, consumerism\, a hardened selfish ness. To do something commonly but to do it in right proportion\, on the o ther hand\, is to win the struggle with it every day. To have one handful of salted peanuts\, one piece of chocolate\, one glass of wine in the mids t of plenty\, one car in a culture that counts its wealth in two-car garag es\, now that is mortification. Benedict knows that culture dictates the u se of many things in life. What he cares about is that we control them rat her than allowing them to control us.\n\nHowever\, where local circumst ances dictate an amount much less than what is stipulated above\, or even none at all\, those who live there should bless God and not grumble. Above all else we admonish them to refrain from grumbling.\n\nIf Benedictin e spirituality understands anything about life at all\, it understands the corrosive effects of constant complaining. Complaining is the acid that s hrivels our own souls and the soul of the community around us\, as well. C omplaining is what shapes our mental set. Feelings\, psychology tells us\, do not affect thoughts. Thoughts affect feelings. What we allow ourselves to think is what we are really allowing ourselves to feel. When we learn how to correct our thought processes\, then\, we learn not only how to sta bilize our own emotions but how to change the environment around us at the same time. What we see as negative we make negative and feel negative abo ut. What we are willing to think about in a positive way becomes positive. \n\nComplaining\, in other words\, undermines the hope of a community and smothers possibility in a group. The whiner\, the constant critic\, the ar mchair complainer make an office\, a family\, a department\, a community a polluted place to be. What we accept wholeheartedly that fails\, we can a lways correct. What we condemn to failure before we have ever really tried to accept it\, is not corrected\; it is doomed to an untimely and\, more than likely\, an unnecessary death.\n\nBenedictine spirituality tells us t o open our hearts and our minds to let grace come in from unlikely places\ , without preplanning and prejudgments. 'When there is no desire\,' the Ta o Te Ching instructs\, 'all things are at peace.'\n X-WR-RELCALID:fc90c07a43fe14eeba3a2be4cc1dc23d X-WR-TIMEZONE:America/New_York BEGIN:VTIMEZONE TZID:America/New_York BEGIN:STANDARD TZNAME:EST DTSTART:20241103T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0400 TZOFFSETTO:-0500 RDATE:20251102T020000 END:STANDARD BEGIN:DAYLIGHT TZNAME:EDT DTSTART:20240310T020000 TZOFFSETFROM:-0500 TZOFFSETTO:-0400 RDATE:20250309T020000 RDATE:20260308T020000 END:DAYLIGHT END:VTIMEZONE BEGIN:VEVENT UID:768ecf02-2d8b-4b77-ac6d-21a3589963b8 DTSTAMP:20260420T030250Z DESCRIPTION:'Everyone has personal gifts from God\, one this and another that (1 Cor 7:7).' It is\, therefore\, with some uneasiness that we speci fy the amount of food and drink for others. However\, with due regard for the infirmities of the sick\, we believe that a half bottle of wine a day is sufficient for each. But those to whom God gives the strength to abstai n must know that they will earn their own reward.\n\nThe Rule of Bened ict does not pretend to know the sacrifices that each of us needs to make in life. A tale from the Sufi may explain why\, in the face of multiple sp iritual disciplines\, all of which specify many and sundry exercises as ba sic to the spiritual life\, Benedict avoids this road of defined penances. 'How shall we ever change\,' the disciples asked\, 'if we have no goals?' And the master said\, 'Change that is real is change that is not willed. Face reality and unwilled change will happen.'\n\nIt is so easy to make co smetic changes in the name of religion. It is so easy to make up rules and keep them so that we can feel good about doing something measurable in th e spiritual life. We can fast and fast and fast from food or drink and not hing changes because fasting from food is not what we really need at that moment to turn our hearts of stone to hearts of flesh. We can kneel and kn eel and kneel but nothing changes because kneeling is not what we need to soften our souls just then. We can fast and kneel and tithe and nothing ch anges because we do not really want anything to change.\n\nGrowth is not a n accident. Growth is a process. We have to want to grow. We have to will to move away the stones that entomb us in ourselves. We have to work at up rooting the weeds that are smothering good growth in ourselves. Benedict d oesn't tell us how much to eat. He simply provides the food and trusts us to make a choice to discipline ourselves somehow\, someway\, so that we do not sink into a mire of self-satisfaction so thick that there is no rescu e for our sated souls.\n\nThe abbot or prioress will determine when loc al conditions\, work or the summer heat indicates the need for a greater a mount. They must\, in any case take great care lest excess or drunkenness creep in. We read that monastics should not drink wine at all\, but since the monastics of our day cannot be convinced of this\, let us at least agr ee to drink moderately\, and not to the point of excess\, for 'wine makes even the wise go astray (Sir 19:2).'\n\nThe Rule of Benedict devotes i tself more to the virtue of moderation than it does to the anesthetizing o f the soul that can come with mortification. To forego a thing completely is to prepare to forget it. If I never eat another piece of chocolate\, I may forget all about chocolate but I may also soon substitute something ev en more dangerous for its taste: drugs\, consumerism\, a hardened selfishn ess. To do something commonly but to do it in right proportion\, on the ot her hand\, is to win the struggle with it every day. To have one handful o f salted peanuts\, one piece of chocolate\, one glass of wine in the midst of plenty\, one car in a culture that counts its wealth in two-car garage s\, now that is mortification. Benedict knows that culture dictates the us e of many things in life. What he cares about is that we control them rath er than allowing them to control us.\n\nHowever\, where local circumsta nces dictate an amount much less than what is stipulated above\, or even n one at all\, those who live there should bless God and not grumble. Above all else we admonish them to refrain from grumbling.\n\nIf Benedictine spirituality understands anything about life at all\, it understands the corrosive effects of constant complaining. Complaining is the acid that sh rivels our own souls and the soul of the community around us\, as well. Co mplaining is what shapes our mental set. Feelings\, psychology tells us\, do not affect thoughts. Thoughts affect feelings. What we allow ourselves to think is what we are really allowing ourselves to feel. When we learn h ow to correct our thought processes\, then\, we learn not only how to stab ilize our own emotions but how to change the environment around us at the same time. What we see as negative we make negative and feel negative abou t. What we are willing to think about in a positive way becomes positive. \n\nComplaining\, in other words\, undermines the hope of a community and smothers possibility in a group. The whiner\, the constant critic\, the ar mchair complainer make an office\, a family\, a department\, a community a polluted place to be. What we accept wholeheartedly that fails\, we can a lways correct. What we condemn to failure before we have ever really tried to accept it\, is not corrected\; it is doomed to an untimely and\, more than likely\, an unnecessary death.\n\nBenedictine spirituality tells us t o open our hearts and our minds to let grace come in from unlikely places\ , without preplanning and prejudgments. 'When there is no desire\,' the Ta o Te Ching instructs\, 'all things are at peace.'\n DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20241118T000000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20241118T235900 LOCATION:Chapter 40 SUMMARY:The Proper Amount of Drink END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR