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X-WR-CALDESC:Sisters and Brothers\, divine scripture calls to us saying:
'Whoever exalt themselves shall be humbled\, and whoever humble themselve
s shall be exalted (Lk 14:11\; 18:14).' In saying this\, therefore\, it sh
ows us that every exaltation is a kind of pride\, which the prophet indica
tes has been shunned\, saying: 'O God\, my heart is not exalted\; my eyes
are not lifted up and I have not walked in the ways of the great nor gone
after marvels beyond me (Ps 13:1).' And why? 'If I had not a humble spirit
\, but were exalted instead\, then you would treat me like a weaned child
on its mother's lap (Ps 131:2).'\n\nIf the twentieth century has lost
anything that needs to be rediscovered\, if the western world has denied a
nything that needs to be owned\, if individuals have rejected anything tha
t needs to be professed again\, if the preservation of the globe in the tw
enty-first century requires anything of the past at all\, it may well be t
he commitment of the Rule of Benedict to humility.\n\nThe Roman Empire in
which Benedict of Nursia wrote his alternative rule of life was a civiliza
tion in a decline not unlike our own. The economy was deteriorating\, the
helpless were being destroyed by the warlike\, the rich lived on the backs
of the poor\, the powerful few made decisions that profited them but plun
ged the powerless many into continual chaos\, the Empire expended more and
more of its resources on militarism designed to maintain a system that\,
strained from within and threatened from without\, was already long dead.
\n\nIt is an environment like that into which Benedict of Nursia flung a R
ule for privileged Roman citizens calling for humility\, a proper sense of
self in a universe of wonders. When we make ourselves God\, no one in the
world is safe in our presence. Humility\, in other words\, is the basis f
or right relationships in life.\n\nLater centuries distorted the notion an
d confused the concept of humility with lack of self-esteem and substitute
d the warped and useless practice of humiliations for the idea of humility
. Eventually the thought of humility was rejected out of hand and we have
been left as a civilization to stew in the consequences of our arrogance.
\n\nBenedict's magna carta of humility directs us to begin the spiritual l
ife by knowing our place in the universe\, our connectedness\, our depende
nce on God for the little greatness we have. Anything else\, he says\, is
to find ourselves in the position of 'a weaned child on its mother's lap\,
' cut off from nourishment\, puny\, helpless--however grandiose our images
of ourselves--and left without the resources necessary to grow in the spi
rit of God. No infant child is independent of its mother\, weaned or not.
No spiritual maturity can be achieved independent of a sense of God's role
in our development.\n\nAccordingly\, if we want to reach the highest s
ummit of humility\, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in hea
ven to which we climb by the humility of this present life\, then by our a
scending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw
'angels descending and ascending (Gn 28:12).' Without doubt\, this descent
and ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by h
umility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth\, and if we humble ou
r hearts God will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the si
des of this ladder\, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various
steps of humility and discipline as we ascend.\n\nJacob's ladder is a
recurring image of spiritual progress in classic spiritual literature\, a
s clear in meaning to its time as the concept of the spiritual journey\, f
or instance\, would be to a later age. It connected heaven and earth. It w
as the process by which the soul saw and touched and climbed and clung to
the presence of God in life\, whose angels 'descended and ascended' in an
attempt to bring God down and raise us up. That ladder\, that precariously
balanced pathway to the invisible God\, Benedict said\, is the integratio
n of body and soul. One without the other\, it seems\, will not do. Dualis
m is a hoax.\n\nJust as false\, though\, is the idea that 'getting ahead'
and 'being on top' are marks of real human achievement. Benedict says that
in the spiritual life up is down and down is up\, 'we descend by exaltati
on and we ascend by humility.' The goals and values of the spiritual life\
, in other words\, are just plain different than the goals and values we'v
e been taught by the world around us. Winning\, owning\, having\, consumin
g\, and controlling are not the high posts of the spiritual life. And this
is the basis for social revolution in the modern world.
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BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:cd2b7d78-05cf-43b0-ba60-394235c35892
DTSTAMP:20260418T110735Z
DESCRIPTION:Sisters and Brothers\, divine scripture calls to us saying:
'Whoever exalt themselves shall be humbled\, and whoever humble themselves
shall be exalted (Lk 14:11\; 18:14).' In saying this\, therefore\, it sho
ws us that every exaltation is a kind of pride\, which the prophet indicat
es has been shunned\, saying: 'O God\, my heart is not exalted\; my eyes a
re not lifted up and I have not walked in the ways of the great nor gone a
fter marvels beyond me (Ps 13:1).' And why? 'If I had not a humble spirit\
, but were exalted instead\, then you would treat me like a weaned child o
n its mother's lap (Ps 131:2).'\n\nIf the twentieth century has lost a
nything that needs to be rediscovered\, if the western world has denied an
ything that needs to be owned\, if individuals have rejected anything that
needs to be professed again\, if the preservation of the globe in the twe
nty-first century requires anything of the past at all\, it may well be th
e commitment of the Rule of Benedict to humility.\n\nThe Roman Empire in w
hich Benedict of Nursia wrote his alternative rule of life was a civilizat
ion in a decline not unlike our own. The economy was deteriorating\, the h
elpless were being destroyed by the warlike\, the rich lived on the backs
of the poor\, the powerful few made decisions that profited them but plung
ed the powerless many into continual chaos\, the Empire expended more and
more of its resources on militarism designed to maintain a system that\, s
trained from within and threatened from without\, was already long dead.\n
\nIt is an environment like that into which Benedict of Nursia flung a Rul
e for privileged Roman citizens calling for humility\, a proper sense of s
elf in a universe of wonders. When we make ourselves God\, no one in the w
orld is safe in our presence. Humility\, in other words\, is the basis for
right relationships in life.\n\nLater centuries distorted the notion and
confused the concept of humility with lack of self-esteem and substituted
the warped and useless practice of humiliations for the idea of humility.
Eventually the thought of humility was rejected out of hand and we have be
en left as a civilization to stew in the consequences of our arrogance.\n
\nBenedict's magna carta of humility directs us to begin the spiritual lif
e by knowing our place in the universe\, our connectedness\, our dependenc
e on God for the little greatness we have. Anything else\, he says\, is to
find ourselves in the position of 'a weaned child on its mother's lap\,'
cut off from nourishment\, puny\, helpless--however grandiose our images o
f ourselves--and left without the resources necessary to grow in the spiri
t of God. No infant child is independent of its mother\, weaned or not. No
spiritual maturity can be achieved independent of a sense of God's role i
n our development.\n\nAccordingly\, if we want to reach the highest sum
mit of humility\, if we desire to attain speedily that exaltation in heave
n to which we climb by the humility of this present life\, then by our asc
ending actions we must set up that ladder on which Jacob in a dream saw 'a
ngels descending and ascending (Gn 28:12).' Without doubt\, this descent a
nd ascent can signify only that we descend by exaltation and ascend by hum
ility. Now the ladder erected is our life on earth\, and if we humble our
hearts God will raise it to heaven. We may call our body and soul the side
s of this ladder\, into which our divine vocation has fitted the various s
teps of humility and discipline as we ascend.\n\nJacob's ladder is a r
ecurring image of spiritual progress in classic spiritual literature\, as
clear in meaning to its time as the concept of the spiritual journey\, for
instance\, would be to a later age. It connected heaven and earth. It was
the process by which the soul saw and touched and climbed and clung to th
e presence of God in life\, whose angels 'descended and ascended' in an at
tempt to bring God down and raise us up. That ladder\, that precariously b
alanced pathway to the invisible God\, Benedict said\, is the integration
of body and soul. One without the other\, it seems\, will not do. Dualism
is a hoax.\n\nJust as false\, though\, is the idea that 'getting ahead' an
d 'being on top' are marks of real human achievement. Benedict says that i
n the spiritual life up is down and down is up\, 'we descend by exaltation
and we ascend by humility.' The goals and values of the spiritual life\,
in other words\, are just plain different than the goals and values we've
been taught by the world around us. Winning\, owning\, having\, consuming\
, and controlling are not the high posts of the spiritual life. And this i
s the basis for social revolution in the modern world.
DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20260526T000000
DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20260526T235900
LOCATION:Chapter 7
SUMMARY:Humility
END:VEVENT
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