Does a man who was born somewhere around the year 480 have anything to say to modern-day Americans? If that man is Saint Benedict, the answer is yes.
The spirituality taught by this patron saint of Europe speaks to many people nowadays and not all of them are monks. One such person is Lynn Huber, a resident of Colorado, who draws daily nourishment from Benedictine teaching., After growing up in a different religious tradition, this middle-aged woman discovered Christianity and, in recent years, has become an Episcopal priest.
In a talk given a week ago in Chicago, Ms. Huber laid out the major elements of this spirituality, showing how they can enrich the lives of people living in the world.
The small book of rules that Benedict left for his followers provides a framework for a vibrant spiritual life. Chief among his requirements are vows of obedience, stability, and conversion of life, three ways of finding God.
For Lynn Huber and others like her who choose to become affiliated with a monastery without actually becoming a monk or nun, the spirit behind the vows has meaning. Obedience implies an effort to see yourself as you really are in the sight of God. It means listening to God in the effort to discover a simplicity of life.
For monks, stability means living one’s whole life in the same monastery. Recognizing both the challenges and the blessings of living with the same people for years, Benedict described this setting as “the place of our wounding and the place of our healing.”
For those living with a spouse or with other people in the world, this changes the basic question from “Am I going to stay” to “How are we going to make it together?” In other words, one expects to stay with life partners and one concentrates on making it work.
By contrast with those who commit themselves to stability, we Americans tend to be restless and, on average, move every five years. There is not necessarily anything wrong with frequent moves, but it may make personal relationships more difficult.
St. Benedict called the third vow “conversio morum” or a radical change of behavior. In practice this involves the determination to “seek and serve the Lord in all things.” For lay people outside the monastery that would mean, among other things, the habit of seeing Christ in every person.
The Benedictine way of life is marked by equal attention to work, prayer, study, and leisure. In the current era when so many people seem to have no time for anything but work, this ideal can serve to remind us of the importance of balance in our life. Sometimes, if we want to give God a greater place in our days, we must learn to slow down.
An effective way of approaching this rhythm of life is to take up the practice of another Benedictine spiritual device called “lectio divina” or sacred reading. Currently many seekers, among them Lynn Huber, hold this practice in high regard and use it every day.
You do it by taking four steps:
- Lectio, by which you read out loud and slowly a passage from the Bible or other appropriate text
- Meditatio, or thinking about it, whereby you let your mind play with whatever strikes you in the reading and pay attention to your feelings about it.
- Oratio, or praying about it. You talk with God, sharing with God your thoughts, feelings, desires, hopes, and what ever else moves you.
- Contemplation, or sitting with it. This involves listening to God and waiting on God with your eyes closed, your body still, your mind and heart open.
At her talk last week, Lynn Huber led those present in a lectio divina, using Psalm 23, “The Lord Is My Shepherd.”
Many people who have adopted Lectio Divina do it for 20 minutes, twice a day. But this form of prayer is flexible, ready to be adapted to whatever time you have.
These few features of practices handed down by Saint Benedict may suggest the value of his tradition. The beauty of Benedictine spirituality is its simplicity, its way of making the approach to God attractive and adaptable to use by many different kinds of people.
No wonder that Saint Benedict has long been recognized as one of the great masters of the spiritual life.
Richard Griffin