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X-WR-CALDESC:Seeking workers in a multitude of people\, God calls out an
d says again: 'Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see
good days (Ps 34:13)? If you hear this and your answer is 'I do\,' God th
en directs these words to you: If you desire true and eternal life\, 'keep
your tongue free from vicious talk and your lips from all deceit\; turn a
way from evil and do good\; let peace be your quest and aim (Ps 34: 14-15)
.' Once you have done this\, my 'eyes will be upon you and my ears will li
sten for your prayers\; and even before you ask me\, I will say' to you: '
Here I am (Is 58:9).' What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy
One calling to us? See how God's love shows us the way of life. Clothed th
en with faith and the performance of good works\, let us set out on this w
ay\, with the gospel for our guide\, that we may deserve to see the Holy O
ne 'who has called us to the eternal presence (I Thes 2:12).'\n\nIn Be
nedict's mind\, apparently\, the spiritual life is not a collection of asc
eticisms\, it is a way of being in the world that is open to God and open
to others. We struggle\, of course\, with temptations to separate the two.
It is so easy to tell ourselves that we overlooked the needs of others be
cause we were attending to the needs of God. It is so easy to go to church
instead of going to a friend whose depression depresses us. It is so easy
to want silence rather than the demands of the children. It is so much ea
sier to read a book about religion than it is to listen to a husband talk
about his job or a wife talk about her loneliness. It is so much easier to
practice the privatized religion of prayers and penances than it is to ma
ke fools out of ourselves for the Christian religion of globalism and peac
e. Deep\, deep spiritual traditions everywhere\, however\, reject those ra
tionalizations: 'Is there life after death?'\, a disciple once asked a Hol
y One. And the Holy One answered\, 'The great spiritual question of life i
s not 'Is there life after death?' The great spiritual question is\, 'Is t
here life before death?'' Benedict obviously believes that life lived full
y is life lived on two planes: attention to God and attention to the good
of the other.\n\nThe godly are those\, this paragraph says\, who never tal
k destructively about another person--in anger\, in spite\, in vengefulnes
s\,--and who can be counted on to bring an open heart to a closed and claw
ing world.\n\nThe godly know when the world they live in has them on a sli
ppery slope away from the good\, the true\, and the holy and they refuse t
o be part of the decline. What's more striking\, they set out to counter i
t. It is not enough\, Benedict implies\, simply to distance ourselves from
the bad. It is not enough\, for instance\, to refuse to slander others\;
we must rebuild their reputations. It is not enough to disapprove of toxic
waste\; we must do something to save the globe. It is not enough to care
for the poor\; we must do something to stop the poverty. We must be people
who bring creation to life. 'Once you have done this\,' the Rule reminds
us\, 'my eyes will be upon you and my ears will listen for your prayers.'
Once you have done these things\, you will be in the presence of God.\n\nF
inally\, as far as Benedict is concerned\, the spiritual life depends on o
ur being peaceful peacemakers.\n\nAgitation drives out consciousness of Go
d. When we're driven by agitation\, consumed by fretting\, we become immer
sed in our own agenda and it is always exaggerated. We get caught up in th
ings which\, in the final analysis\, simply don't count\, in things that p
ass away\, in things that are concerned with living comfortably rather tha
n with living well. We go to pieces over crying children and broken machin
es and the length of stop lights at intersections. We lose touch with the
center of things.\n\nAt the same time\, a kind of passive tranquillity is
not the aim of Benedictine life. The call of this spirituality is to be ge
ntle ourselves and to bring nonviolence in our wake. It is an amazing posi
tion for a sixth century document to take in a violent world. There is no
Armeggedon theology here\, no call to a pitched battle between good and ev
il in a world that subscribed to dualism and divided life into things of t
he spirit and things of the flesh.\n\nIn this Rule of life\, violence is s
imply discounted. Violence doesn't work. Not political violence\, not soci
al violence\, not physical violence\, not even the violence that we do to
ourselves in the name of religion. Wars haven't worked. Classism hasn't wo
rked. Fanaticism hasn't worked. Benedictinism\, on the other hand\, simply
does not have as its goal either to beat the body down or to vanquish the
world. Benedictinism simply sets out to gentle a universe riddled with vi
olence by being a peaceful voice for peace in a world that thinks that eve
rything--international relations\, child rearing and economic development\
, even in the spiritual life--is accomplished by force.\n\nBenedictinism i
s a call to live in the world not only without weapons raised against the
other but by doing good. The passage implies clearly that those who make G
od's creation their enemy simply do not 'deserve to see the Holy One.'\n\n
It is a strong passage clothed in words long dulled by repetition.\n\n
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BEGIN:VEVENT
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DTSTAMP:20260420T105614Z
DESCRIPTION:Seeking workers in a multitude of people\, God calls out and
says again: 'Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see
good days (Ps 34:13)? If you hear this and your answer is 'I do\,' God the
n directs these words to you: If you desire true and eternal life\, 'keep
your tongue free from vicious talk and your lips from all deceit\; turn aw
ay from evil and do good\; let peace be your quest and aim (Ps 34: 14-15).
' Once you have done this\, my 'eyes will be upon you and my ears will lis
ten for your prayers\; and even before you ask me\, I will say' to you: 'H
ere I am (Is 58:9).' What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy O
ne calling to us? See how God's love shows us the way of life. Clothed the
n with faith and the performance of good works\, let us set out on this wa
y\, with the gospel for our guide\, that we may deserve to see the Holy On
e 'who has called us to the eternal presence (I Thes 2:12).'\n\nIn Ben
edict's mind\, apparently\, the spiritual life is not a collection of asce
ticisms\, it is a way of being in the world that is open to God and open t
o others. We struggle\, of course\, with temptations to separate the two.
It is so easy to tell ourselves that we overlooked the needs of others bec
ause we were attending to the needs of God. It is so easy to go to church
instead of going to a friend whose depression depresses us. It is so easy
to want silence rather than the demands of the children. It is so much eas
ier to read a book about religion than it is to listen to a husband talk a
bout his job or a wife talk about her loneliness. It is so much easier to
practice the privatized religion of prayers and penances than it is to mak
e fools out of ourselves for the Christian religion of globalism and peace
. Deep\, deep spiritual traditions everywhere\, however\, reject those rat
ionalizations: 'Is there life after death?'\, a disciple once asked a Holy
One. And the Holy One answered\, 'The great spiritual question of life is
not 'Is there life after death?' The great spiritual question is\, 'Is th
ere life before death?'' Benedict obviously believes that life lived fully
is life lived on two planes: attention to God and attention to the good o
f the other.\n\nThe godly are those\, this paragraph says\, who never talk
destructively about another person--in anger\, in spite\, in vengefulness
\,--and who can be counted on to bring an open heart to a closed and clawi
ng world.\n\nThe godly know when the world they live in has them on a slip
pery slope away from the good\, the true\, and the holy and they refuse to
be part of the decline. What's more striking\, they set out to counter it
. It is not enough\, Benedict implies\, simply to distance ourselves from
the bad. It is not enough\, for instance\, to refuse to slander others\; w
e must rebuild their reputations. It is not enough to disapprove of toxic
waste\; we must do something to save the globe. It is not enough to care f
or the poor\; we must do something to stop the poverty. We must be people
who bring creation to life. 'Once you have done this\,' the Rule reminds u
s\, 'my eyes will be upon you and my ears will listen for your prayers.' O
nce you have done these things\, you will be in the presence of God.\n\nFi
nally\, as far as Benedict is concerned\, the spiritual life depends on ou
r being peaceful peacemakers.\n\nAgitation drives out consciousness of God
. When we're driven by agitation\, consumed by fretting\, we become immers
ed in our own agenda and it is always exaggerated. We get caught up in thi
ngs which\, in the final analysis\, simply don't count\, in things that pa
ss away\, in things that are concerned with living comfortably rather than
with living well. We go to pieces over crying children and broken machine
s and the length of stop lights at intersections. We lose touch with the c
enter of things.\n\nAt the same time\, a kind of passive tranquillity is n
ot the aim of Benedictine life. The call of this spirituality is to be gen
tle ourselves and to bring nonviolence in our wake. It is an amazing posit
ion for a sixth century document to take in a violent world. There is no A
rmeggedon theology here\, no call to a pitched battle between good and evi
l in a world that subscribed to dualism and divided life into things of th
e spirit and things of the flesh.\n\nIn this Rule of life\, violence is si
mply discounted. Violence doesn't work. Not political violence\, not socia
l violence\, not physical violence\, not even the violence that we do to o
urselves in the name of religion. Wars haven't worked. Classism hasn't wor
ked. Fanaticism hasn't worked. Benedictinism\, on the other hand\, simply
does not have as its goal either to beat the body down or to vanquish the
world. Benedictinism simply sets out to gentle a universe riddled with vio
lence by being a peaceful voice for peace in a world that thinks that ever
ything--international relations\, child rearing and economic development\,
even in the spiritual life--is accomplished by force.\n\nBenedictinism is
a call to live in the world not only without weapons raised against the o
ther but by doing good. The passage implies clearly that those who make Go
d's creation their enemy simply do not 'deserve to see the Holy One.'\n\nI
t is a strong passage clothed in words long dulled by repetition.\n\n
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260504T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260504T235900
LOCATION:Prologue
SUMMARY:Prologue
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR