Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 10, 2009

February 9, June 10, October 10
Chapter 7: On Humility
The twelfth degree of humility
is that a monk not only have humility in his heart
but also by his very appearance make it always manifest
to those who see him.
That is to say that whether he is at the Work of God,
in the oratory, in the monastery, in the garden, on the road,
in the fields or anywhere else,
and whether sitting, walking or standing,
he should always have his head bowed
and his eyes toward the ground.
Feeling the guilt of his sins at every moment,
he should consider himself already present at the dread Judgment
and constantly say in his heart
what the publican in the Gospel said
with his eyes fixed on the earth:
"Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up my eyes to heaven" (Luke 18:13; Matt. 8:8);
and again with the Prophet:
"I am bowed down and humbled everywhere" (Ps. 37[38]:7,9; 118[119]:107).


Having climbed all these steps of humility, therefore,
the monk will presently come to that perfect love of God
which casts out fear.
And all those precepts
which formerly he had not observed without fear,
he will now begin to keep by reason of that love,
without any effort,
as though naturally and by habit.
No longer will his motive be the fear of hell,
but rather the love of Christ,
good habit
and delight in the virtues
which the Lord will deign to show forth by the Holy Spirit
in His servant now cleansed from vice and sin.

Some thoughts:

Benedict is big on "walking the talk" as we've seen before. Some of us may react negatively to this business of walking with one's head bowed down. Maybe we don't want to present such an abject figure to the world. I have an idea I'd like us to try on for size. What if Benedict believes that in so doing, we will not see the sins of others? We preserve humility when we do not compare ourselves to others.

Well, whatever, that's not the bit I like the best in this section of the RB. Previously, Benedict has spoken much about the dread of judgement, fear of hell etc. but here he tells us that all this hard work we did in the previous 11 steps has the most fantastic, wonderful result: to love God and to know God loves the seeker. That all one does and says is out of love for God. That one voluntarily chooses to do that which pleases God in order to increase the love the 2 share.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 8, 2009

February 7, June 8, October 8
Chapter 7: On Humility
The tenth degree of humility
is that he be not ready and quick to laugh,
for it is written,
"The fool lifts up his voice in laughter" (Eccles. 21:23).

Some thoughts

Kardong's translation reads: The 10th step of humility is not being quick to laugh at the slightest provocation, for it is written; The fool raises his voice in laughter.

Hmmm... I love to laugh, don't you? Especially that laughter that wells up from deep joy and delight. I am pretty convinced that when God created the Earth that He did so with joy and laughter. What else explains the giraffe? Or the cormorant, a bird that dives into water for a living to get fish yet has no oil in its wings which means it will sink unless it sits on a piling or something with it's wings spread out bent at a 90 degree angle as if it had elbows to dry them. And from what I've read by Benedictine monks, there is no shortage of joy in the monastery.

So what is Benedict saying here? The key is in the Latin word risus which is translated as "to laugh." It is a word used to differentiate the ribald, that ridicule which some think so funny from good humor. Benedict never denies his monks good humor. But laughter at the expense of another, that is what he is talking about.

Laughter at the expense of another can take many forms, can they not? There was an American comedian, Alan King, who made a living with mother-in-law jokes, always to the detriment of that woman. Many would be comedians garner a lot of laughter in response to their use of truly filthy language. There are many jokes about sex which seem to me to be a form of exploitation. And then of course there are those ethnic slurs disguised as comedy. Oh, I could go on.

But the point is this, I think. Risus doesn't arise from love, quite the opposite. Risus does not have its roots in treating all people as if they were Christ.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 7, 2009

February 6, June 7, October 7

Chapter 7: On Humility

The ninth degree of humility
is that a monk restrain his tongue and keep silence,
not speaking until he is questioned.
For the Scripture shows
that "in much speaking there is no escape from sin" (Prov. 10:19)
and that "the talkative man is not stable on the earth" (Ps. 139[140]:12).

Some thoughts:

Once again, I offer Br Terence Kardong's translation of these verses. I certainly wish his translation was on line because I think it really helps to read a different translation from time to time. The only place where I know it is available is in his Commentary on the RB.

The 9th step of humility comes when a monk hold back his tongue from speaking, and out of love for silence does not speak until someone asks him a question. Scripture shows that 'In much talk, one does not escape sin', and 'The chatterbox does not walk straight on the earth.

This translation certainly helps me and I hope it helps you. Here is another place where I consistently fail. I do not hold back my tongue from speaking. I do indeed love silence in my home, in my car and I do wish televisions were not playing in every doctor's office or pharmacy I have to visit. But when it comes to conversation with others, oh how I love to talk.

Communication is important and until the advent of the Internet and email, we had letters and conversation as ways of communication. I have read that in order to preserve silence in Benedictine communities, hand signals were used. One former monk of my acquaintance told me that in his community, the hand signals were so elaborate, one could have an hour long conversation. I asked in what way this preserved the spirit of silence and he admitted it did not. What this tells me, once again, is how basic is communication to our nature. We are hard wired for it as part of the image and likeness of God in which we are created.

How do we develop a love of silence that supersedes our love of communication? This is a place where I really need to challenge myself. Have any of the rest you wrestled with this?

And doncha just love Kardong's translation in the last verse? "The chatterbox does not walk straight on the earth." It's a vivid image of someone darting hither and yon to and fro to impart bits of information. By an unspoken comparison, silence is the straight path from ourselves to our dear Lord. Would you agree?

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 6, 2009

Chapter 7: On Humility
The eighth degree of humility
is that a monk do nothing except what is commended
by the common Rule of the monastery
and the example of the elders.


Some thoughts:

Imagine this! You are part of a community and you have voluntarily accepted that for the rest of your life, you will live according to the RB as it is practiced within that community. You have also accepted that you will learn from those who entered the monastery before you. Except when asked, you will not offer your own opinions (hard for me). You will do as your are told (hard for me). And what's hardest, at least for me, to commit to something that is not of my own intellect, arrived at through my personal struggle to understand what the rip is going on around me.

OK, that's how today's reading challenges me. How does it challenge you?

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 5, 2009

February 4, June 5, October 5
Chapter 7: On Humility
The seventh degree of humility
is that he consider himself lower and of less account
than anyone else,
and this not only in verbal protestation
but also with the most heartfelt inner conviction,
humbling himself and saying with the Prophet,
"But I am a worm and no man,
the scorn of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps. 21[22]:7).
"After being exalted, I have been humbled
and covered with confusion" (Pa. 87:16).
And again,
"It is good for me that You have humbled me,
that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 118[119]:71).

Some thoughts

Perhaps Kardong's translation will help:

The 7th step of humility is surmounted if the monk no only confesses with his tongue but also believes with all his heart that he is lower and less honorable than all the rest. He thus abases himself, declaring with the Prophet "I, though, am a worm., not a man. I am the object of curses and rejection. I was raised but now I am humiliated and covered with confusion." Along the same line "It is good for me that you humiliate me so that I might keep your commandments."

So what does this tell us? I think it tells us that humility should not be merely verbal but a matter of profound conviction.. Philippians tells us to look to the interests of the other, rather than to our own.

It's a nice contrast to the messages we are bombarded with that we are to believe that we are not only as good as the next guy, we are even better. Where does such a teaching lead us but deep into pride, hubris.

Rather than concentrate on the negative aspects of this passage which if taken too far could lead one to self-hate and self abuse, I prefer to look at the implied positive aspects: we are totally dependent on grace and that truly whatever good we do is a result of grace. After all it is the Giver of the gifts that gave us whatever talents and skills we have. We may have developed the raw material, but the source is always God.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 4, 2009

February 3, June 4, October 4
Chapter 7: On Humility
The sixth degree of humility
is that a monk be content
with the poorest and worst of everything,
and that in every occupation assigned him
he consider himself a bad and worthless workman,
saying with the Prophet,
"I am brought to nothing and I am without understanding;
I have become as a beast of burden before You,
and I am always with You" (Ps:22-23).

Some thoughts

Well, now, doesn't this just sit wrong with us moderns? We know it's bad for us think bad things of ourselves. Just yesterday we read about the 5th degree of humility. Benedict wrote in a way that would win praise from any modern psychologist. Then we turn the page and here's today's reading which would bother the modern psychologists. So what is actually going on here? As is my habit anytime I run into a conundrum with the RB, I turn to Terence Kardong's Commentary.

1st, let me share with you the way he translates this passage:

"The 6th step occurs when a monk is content with low and dishonorable treatment. And regarding all that is commanded of him, he regards himself as a bad and worthless worker, saying with the Prophet "I was reduced to impotence and ignorance; I was like a brute beast before you, and I am also with you." "

Ah, this is a time when I wish I had the command of Latin that Br Terence has. He says some interesting (at least to me) things about vilitas. It was once a word used of slaves, reminding me that at the time of St. Benedict, slavery was alive and flourishing at the time the RB was written. The buying and selling of human beings as chattel was practiced well into the 19th century in Europe and the USA.

So perhaps if we read this passage from this POV, it makes more sense to us. The monk is to regard himself as a slave, owned by another, at the mercy of another. In once sense this is still very true for Christians of 21st century. We don't hear about it much, but Paul enjoins us to be slaves for Christ. But what does that mean to us post-moderns?

Now this bit of the RB is not to be considered a justification for slavery. Rather, it would seem Benedict is using slavery as a metaphor. Nor does it sanction arbitrary and cavalier treatment of the monks because there are a number of places in the RB where it is stipulated that the needs of the monks are to be carefully attended to by monastic superiors. For instance chapters 31, 34, 36.

The 1st 5 steps of humility talked more about obedience. I guess learning obedience is a prerequisite for learning humility. Or humility comes through obedience. I find it difficult to separate obedience from humility as the concepts spill over into each other and are often described the same way.

Seems to me the contemporary application off this step has nothing to do with self-esteem. But it does speak to pride. Competent monks need not think themselves incompetent, but neither are they to think that their performance confers any sort of exalted place in the community, but just one piece of the puzzle that is a healthy community.

I have a view of the Body of Christ. Every single Christian has a role to play in the Body of Christ. Every single Christian has a vocation. All vocations are equal in importance, equally valuable, equally necessary to the Body. There was a time and maybe some still think this way, that said that those called to the religious life had a higher vocation than someone called to be a teacher or an accountant, sanitation worker or lawyer. I say this is hogwash. The beauty of the vocations in the Body of Christ is that someone else does for me what I am unable to do for myself and vice versa.

If my reasoning makes sense to you, this is what I think Benedict means in this selection. What do you think?

Rule of St Benedict Reading for June 3, 2009

February 2, June 3, October 3
Chapter 7: On Humility
The fifth degree of humility
is that he hide from his Abbot none of the evil thoughts
that enter his heart
or the sins committed in secret,
but that he humbly confess them.
The Scripture urges us to this when it says,
"Reveal your way to the Lord and hope in Him" (Ps. 36[37]:5)
and again,
"Confess to the Lord, for He is good,
for His mercy endures forever" (Ps. 105[106]:1).
And the Prophet likewise says,
"My offense I have made known to You,
and my iniquities I have not covered up.
I said: 'I will declare against myself my iniquities to the Lord;'
and 'You forgave the wickedness of my heart'" (Ps. 31[32]:5).



Some thoughts

The General Confession in the Book of Common Prayer, Episcopal Church reads:

Most merciful God,
we confess that we have sinned against you
in thought, word, and deed,
by what we have done,
and by what we have left undone.
We have not loved you with our whole heart;
we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.
We are truly sorry and we humbly repent.
For the sake of you Son Jesus Christ,
have mercy on us and forgive us;
that we may delight in your will,
and walk in your ways,
to the glory of your Name. Amen.



A while ago there was some pop psychology movement that said that it didn't matter what we think, it was what we did with our actions that mattered. That could not be more wrong.

Both the reading and General Confession tell us thoughts matter as much as our actions. I will once again plug Sister Margaret Funk's excellent books: Thoughts Matter, Tools Matter and Humility Matters. For that matter, Jesus told us that it is not what goes into a person that defiles them but what comes out. What guides our actions? What fuels our words? What is the source of defilement for what comes out of our mouths? Our thoughts.

We can easily see how humbling it would be to tell someone else every possible dark thought we might have. I have some thoughts I am ashamed of, I don't want to tell them to anyone. And yet when I do share them with someone, they begin to lose their power over me. When I get them out of the dark and into the light where I can look at them and examine them, that is when I can see them for what they are.

I don't think I am entitled to think however I want to. I believe my very thoughts are subject to the work of the Holy Spirit as part of Her transformative work. Because even our thoughts are to be made brand new as they come to more and more reflect back to God His image and likeness.

Reading June 2, 2009

February 1, June 2, October 2

Chapter 7: On Humility

The fourth degree of humility
is that he hold fast to patience with a silent mind
when in this obedience he meets with difficulties
and contradictions
and even any kind of injustice,
enduring all without growing weary or running away.
For the Scripture says,
"The one who perseveres to the end,
is the one who shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22);
and again
"Let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord" (Ps. 26[27]:14)!


And to show how those who are faithful
ought to endure all things, however contrary, for the Lord,
the Scripture says in the person of the suffering,
"For Your sake we are put to death all the day long;
we are considered as sheep marked for slaughter" (Ps. 43[44]:22; Rom. 8:36).
Then, secure in their hope of a divine recompense,
they go on with joy to declare,
"But in all these trials we conquer,
through Him who has granted us His love" (Rom. 8:37).
Again, in another place the Scripture says,
"You have tested us, O God;
You have tried us a silver is tried, by fire;
You have brought us into a snare;
You have laid afflictions on our back" (Matt. 5:39-41).
And to show that we ought to be under a Superior,
it goes on to say,
"You have set men over our heads" (Ps. 65[66]:12).


Moreover, by their patience
those faithful ones fulfill the Lord's command
in adversities and injuries:
when struck on one cheek, they offer the other;
when deprived of their tunic, they surrender also their cloak;
when forced to go a mile, they go two;
with the Apostle Paul they bear with false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26)
and bless those who curse them (1 Cor. 4:12).

Some thoughts:

I think it is very important to remember as we read today's selection that Benedict is only talking about what happens within the monastic community. Benedict's idea was that the monastery be self-supporting, self-sufficient and that there would be little if any need for the monks to leave the community.

This is very important for me to remind myself as I have a Very Hard Time Indeed with injustice. Nothing gets me more angry faster than the deliberate victimization of a person or persons by a person or persons. So I have to rein myself in when I read this bit.

That said, let me assure you that I have a very hard time keeping a silent mind in the face of difficulties, contradictions and injustices. When face with a difficulty I am motivated to solve it. When faced with a contradiction I am motivated to resolve it. When faced with injustice I am motivated to stop it.

This business of keeping a silent mind, though... not offer to solve? Not offer to resolve? Not stop injustice? This makes me think. It's in the RB so I have to deal with it just as I have to deal with the nasty bits in the Bible. It's there so I have to deal with it. No glossing over, no explaining away. And at the same time keeping in mind that Benedict's context was a group of monks living in a community and not the context of the wider world and all its messes.

For me the challenge of keeping a silent mind is that I am 100% completely convinced my take on a situation is the right one. When I look at that, honestly and squarely in the face, I am forced to admit that it pretty darned ego centric of me. Where do I get off thinking I know all there is to be known about a situation or what's going on in the mind of others? To admit I do not, to cop to my own fallibility, well... ... that's humility, isn't? To admit that I might be wrong? Mistaken?

This section of the rule not only requires that I keep silence but that I also keep a silent mind, that is not even think about it. To so grasp my fallibility or my own place in the scheme of things, to so let go of any interest in the issue that I don't even think about it... To face the idea that any contribution I might make is flawed or none of my business and be so convinced of it that I don't even think about it. That's hard stuff. That humbles me.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for May 30,2009

January 30, May 31, September 30

Chapter 7: On Humility

The second degree of humility
is that a person love not his own will
nor take pleasure in satisfying his desires,
but model his actions on the saying of the Lord,
"I have come not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).
It is written also,
"Self-will has its punishment,
but constraint wins a crown."

Some thoughts

It stands to reason, does it not, that if the 1st degree of humility is obedience/love of the Lord that the next step would be to walk the talk. I like to concentrate on the idea that in a relationship of love, one's deepest desire is to please the beloved.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for May 28 and 29, 2009

Jan. 27 - May 28 - Sept. 27
Let a man consider
that God is always looking at him from heaven,
that his actions are everywhere visible to the divine eyes
and are constantly being reported to God by the Angels.
This is what the Prophet shows us
when he represents God as ever present within our thoughts,
in the words "Searcher of minds and hearts is God" (Ps. 7:10)
and again in the words "The Lord knows the thoughts of men" (Ps. 93[94]:11).
Again he says,
"You have read my thoughts from afar" (Ps. 13[14]9:3)
and "The thoughts of people will confess to You" (Ps. 75[76]:11).

In order that he may be careful
about his wrongful thoughts, therefore,
let the faithful brother say constantly in his heart,
"Then shall I be spotless before Him,
if I have kept myself from my iniquity" (Ps. 17[18]:24).



Jan. 28 - May 29 - Sept. 28
As for self-will,
we are forbidden to do our own will
by the Scripture, which says to us,
"Turn away from your own will" (Eccles. 18:30),
and likewise by the prayer in which we ask God
that His will be done in us.
And rightly are we taught not to do our own will
when we take heed to the warning of Scripture:
"There are ways which seem right,
but the ends of them plunge into the depths of hell" (Prov. 16:25);
and also when we tremble at what is said of the careless:
"They are corrupt and have become abominable in their will."

And as for the desires of the flesh,
let us believe with the Prophet that God is ever present to us,
when he says to the Lord,
"Every desire of mine is before You" (Ps. 37[38]:10).

Some thoughts

In this section we are still contemplating the first degree of humility: obedience/love of God.

How many times a day do we remember that God sees our every thought, word and deed? Things done and left undone? That He is our constant and devoted companion? I have to admit, my every waking thought is not spent thinking of God. If all I did was sit around in a comfy chair thinking of God, I wouldn't get done the things He has set before. As with any relationship founded on love, we can't keep our thoughts on our beloved 100% of the time. But our hearts are with the beloved, are they not? This love under grids all we do, say and think, doesn't it. And don't all who truly love have some version of "Then shall I be spotless before Him, if I have kept myself from my iniquity" running through our minds as we go about the day?

As for this business of being "forbidden to do our own will by the Scripture"... Forbidden? This is the 21st century and I live in the USA. Forbidden? Such a strong word, is it not? Part of me immediately wants to reject this bit. I live in a democracy, after all. But this word is used in the RB and just as with the nastier bits in the Bible, it's there, so I have to deal with it.

I daresay the concept of "forbidden" did not sound as strange to 6th centuries years as it does to ours in 2009. It's a word that goes along with the hierarchical structure of emperors and empresses, kings and queens, lords and ladies. It's a concept that has a place in a kingdom with a ruling class and those who are ruled. That is not our world any longer.

The other thing that strikes me is this and please correct me if I am wrong. It doesn't seem to me that Scripture is considered by most people to be an absolute authority. We now have source criticism, text criticism, contextual and cultural criticism. Seems to me that as a result of all these criticisms most of us feel we can pick and choose which parts of the Bible are those we pay attention to and we can choose to ignore the rest.

My take, as you can imagine, is slightly different. Yes, by all means, let us be informed by these approaches. Let them enrich our understanding. At the same time though, I consider the Bible to be the answer to the Great Questions about life, the universe and...well, everything. Once I have been informed by these various disciplines my next step must then be to ask this question: what is the Bible saying to me.

I believe there was a context in history, culture and society for all the bits in the Bible. All of those bits are there because they served a purpose within their own place in the space/time continuum. But that is not the only purpose because they also serve to inform us. If we chose to allow Scripture to do so.

So while "forbidden" may be a word from a world view which is no longer ours, surely we can look at this word, see it for what it is and ask ourselves can we choose to subject our will out of preference for His?

Rule of St Benedict Reading for May 26,2009

January 25, May 26, September 25

Chapter 7: On Humility

Holy Scripture, brethren, cries out to us, saying,
"Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled,
and he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).
In saying this it shows us
that all exaltation is a kind of pride,
against which the Prophet proves himself to be on guard
when he says,
"Lord, my heart is not exalted,
nor are mine eyes lifted up;
neither have I walked in great matters,
nor in wonders above me."
But how has he acted?
"Rather have I been of humble mind
than exalting myself;
as a weaned child on its mother's breast,
so You solace my soul" (Ps. 130[131]:2).


Hence, brethren,
if we wish to reach the very highest point of humility
and to arrive speedily at that heavenly exaltation
to which ascent is made through the humility of this present life,
we must
by our ascending actions
erect the ladder Jacob saw in his dream,
on which Angels appeared to him descending and ascending.
By that descent and ascent
we must surely understand nothing else than this,
that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility.
And the ladder thus set up is our life in the world,
which the Lord raises up to heaven if our heart is humbled.
For we call our body and soul the sides of the ladder,
and into these sides our divine vocation has inserted
the different steps of humility and discipline we must climb.

Some thoughts:

Well, here it is. The very beginning of the longest and most detailed treatment of any subject in the RB. Without humility, none of the rest of it matters. We could be most punctiliously correct in prayer times, good works, obedience, serving in our churches. If, however, we have pride in our hearts, no matter how secret, then we have failed.

Benedict uses the imagery of the ladder. It is a common metaphor of Christian writers. St. John Climacus wrote the Ladder of Divine Ascent. I've seen the icon called the Ladder of Divine Ascent. St Therese of Lisieux used a ladder in her Little Way. It's a great metaphor. We climb up, climb down, fall off, ladder collapses, we reach the top.

Mostly though climbing a ladder is work. Especially if we attempt to climb it carrying burdens of any sort. The things is about climbing a ladder... we do it ourselves. No one can climb a ladder for us. We chose whether we go up or down and when we do it. It's up to us.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for May 27,2009

January 26, May 27, September 26

Chapter 7: On Humility

The first degree of humility, then,
is that a person keep the fear of God before his eyes (Ps. 35[36]:2)
and beware of ever forgetting it.
Let him be ever mindful of all that God has commanded;
let his thoughts constantly recur
to the hell-fire which will burn for their sins
those who despise God,
and to the life everlasting which is prepared
for those who fear Him.
Let him keep himself at every moment from sins and vices,
whether of the mind, the tongue, the hands, the feet,
or the self-will,
and check also the desires of the flesh.


Some thoughts:

"Fear of God" is one of those expressions I just don't like. If perfect love casts out all fear and God is perfect love, well, you see where that syllogism goes. While I don't know Hebrew, assuming Ps 35 was original Hebrew, I do know a few things about Hebrew. One is that every word in Hebrew is fraught with meaning. For example "The Holy Spirit brooded over the waters of the deep." The Hebrew word translated as "brooded" can also mean "hover" and "dance". Incidentally that "dance" is the inspiration for the prayer in my sig. But I digress.

So the issue for me, then, is how else could the Hebrew word translated as "fear" be translated? So I did some digging as best I could. The Hebrew word is YIR'AH and is used in the Hebrew Scriptures in a number of ways: fear, trembling, awesome, terrifying, respect, reverence and piety. The Greek word that was selected to translate the Hebrew is phobos and since that is the root of "phobia" we can all see where that would lead us. The Latin word Benedict uses is timorem which is the root for "timid" and we can see how very complicated has become this business of fearing God. As for me, I prefer where the Hebrew takes me.

What is evident to me, is that this the fear of God is a term rich in meaning. And would possibly be better translated in some other way. But that's just me. Rudolf Otto in The Idea of the Holy coined the term "numinous" to describe the sort of fear we ought to have for the Lord. But it is C S Lewis who is most helpful to me because he seems to me to have gotten much closer to the many levels of meaning of YIR'AH. In The Problem of Pain he states that fear of the Numinous is not a fear that one feels for a tiger, or even a ghost. Rather, the fear of the Numinous, as C.S. Lewis describes it, is one filled with awe, in which you "feel wonder and a certain shrinking" or "a sense of inadequacy to cope with such a visitant of or prostration before it". It is a fear that comes forth out of love for the Lord.

In the beginning of Ch 5 on Obedience which we just read, Benedict wrote that the 1st degree of humility was obedience and here in ch 7, he said that the 1st degree of humility was fear of the Lord. Over the years I've noted the perceived discrepancy but it is only recently that I was led to look at it more closely. I see the operative word is "perceived".

Something I am deeply convinced of is that the meaning of "fear of the Lord" begins with love of Him. And how many ways are there to love Him? Sometimes my love for Him closely resembles the stuffed panda bear I've had since before I was born and is rather the worse for the wear of the decades but which i still clutch when in distress. Sometimes my love for Him is a cherished companion to whom I can turn to for everything. Sometimes my love for Him is exalted as He is the Creator, the One without whom living would have no purpose or meaning. But mostly my love of Him is a response to the mind blowing unconditional love He has offered me every single blessed nanosecond of the life He gave me.

How could one not want to please a God like that? How could one want to to do anything but that which increases the love between us? There are even carrots dangling before the horses: the promise of life everlasting. How could one want to do anything but love all other people as God has Loved us?

So fear of the Lord become for me a source of hope, joy, love, life, promise. It is also very humbling to honestly face up to the fact that I let so much of myself get in the way: ego; the dysfunctional stuff that is so very familiar, for examples.

The first step of humility then, is love of God. A love that we give permission to root around in our very depths as much as necessary to recreate within us that unique reflection of the image and likeness of God in which each of us is created.

Rule of St Benedict Reading for May 22,2009

January 25, May 26, September 25

Chapter 7: On Humility

Holy Scripture, brethren, cries out to us, saying,
"Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled,
and he who humbles himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).
In saying this it shows us
that all exaltation is a kind of pride,
against which the Prophet proves himself to be on guard
when he says,
"Lord, my heart is not exalted,
nor are mine eyes lifted up;
neither have I walked in great matters,
nor in wonders above me."
But how has he acted?
"Rather have I been of humble mind
than exalting myself;
as a weaned child on its mother's breast,
so You solace my soul" (Ps. 130[131]:2).


Hence, brethren,
if we wish to reach the very highest point of humility
and to arrive speedily at that heavenly exaltation
to which ascent is made through the humility of this present life,
we must
by our ascending actions
erect the ladder Jacob saw in his dream,
on which Angels appeared to him descending and ascending.
By that descent and ascent
we must surely understand nothing else than this,
that we descend by self-exaltation and ascend by humility.
And the ladder thus set up is our life in the world,
which the Lord raises up to heaven if our heart is humbled.
For we call our body and soul the sides of the ladder,
and into these sides our divine vocation has inserted
the different steps of humility and discipline we must climb.

Some thoughts:

Well, here it is. The very beginning of the longest and most detailed treatment of any subject in the RB. Without humility, none of the rest of it matters. We could be most punctiliously correct in prayer times, good works, obedience, serving in our churches. If, however, we have pride in our hearts, no matter how secret, then we have failed.

Benedict uses the imagery of the ladder. It is a common metaphor of Christian writers. St. John Climacus wrote the Ladder of Divine Ascent. I've seen the icon called the Ladder of Divine Ascent. St Therese of Lisieux used a ladder in her Little Way. It's a great metaphor. We climb up, climb down, fall off, ladder collapses, we reach the top.

Mostly though climbing a ladder is work. Especially if we attempt to climb it carrying burdens of any sort. The things is about climbing a ladder... we do it ourselves. No one can climb a ladder for us. We chose whether we go up or down and when we do it. It's up to us.

Reading 02/08/08

February 8, June 9, October 9
Chapter 7: On Humility

The eleventh degree of humility
is that when a monk speaks
he do so gently and without laughter,
humbly and seriously,
in few and sensible words,
and that he be not noisy in his speech.
It is written,
"A wise man is known by the fewness of his words"(Sextus, Enchidirion, 134 or 145).

Some thoughts

Do you talk to much? Do you interrupt others? Do you wish to be a fount of all human knowledge?

I often do. I've got to learn to keep my big mouth shut.

Reading for 02/07/08

Chapter 7: On Humility

The tenth degree of humility
is that he be not ready and quick to laugh,
for it is written,
"The fool lifts up his voice in laughter" (Eccles. 21:23).

Some thoughts:

So I am sitting here trying to think of something I haven't already thought about this particular passage and I'm stumped.

Certainly we laugh too easily and too often at the wrong things, but joyous laughter that springs from the heady enjoyment of a beautiful day or the recollection at how much God loves us, that i think is very compatible with the RB.

What do you think? Have I missed the boat?

Reading for Feb 4, 2008

February 4, June 5, October 5
Chapter 7: On Humility

The seventh degree of humility
is that he consider himself lower and of less account
than anyone else,
and this not only in verbal protestation
but also with the most heartfelt inner conviction,
humbling himself and saying with the Prophet,
"But I am a worm and no man,
the scorn of men and the outcast of the people" (Ps. 21:7).
"After being exalted, I have been humbled
and covered with confusion" (Pa. 87:16).
And again,
"It is good for me that You have humbled me,
that I may learn Your commandments" (Ps. 118:71).


Some Thoughts:

What I've mainly been thinking about is how I have been coasting on this list. I used the internet and find profound somethings and offer them to you in place of what I've promised: my own engagement with the RB.

Of course, in the past few days or coupla weeks, none of us are offering to each other our own engagement with the Rule. I wonder if the reason for that is the sentiments expressed in the first bit of today's reading. It is very good if we have internalized what Benedict has written here.

I wonder though, can we take this too far? By not speaking up on this list, say, might we fail to speak what the Holy Spirit might lead us to? If we believe the RB is the path She has called us to, then surely we need to engage with the Rule?

When I was in first grade, Sister Padua told our class that if one of us had a question or something to contribute, then we could be positive that someone one else in the class did too. I figured she should know because she was a nun. Of course, now that I am one myself, I question if we nuns deserve the authority we are sometimes imbued with but i digress.

Toward the end of the Rule we come to that famous passage where St. Benedict tells us that every day we start over. I've said this before, I'll say many times again. I take enormous comfort from this idea that every day we start over. I cannot tell you what enormous comfort. For one thing it supports the idea what we are all beginners to the Benedictine way, no matter how long by God's grace we've followed it.

The Little Flower wrote of her version of the ladder to Heaven which i find ever so m juch more appealing than St John Climicus' version. She writes that the goal of the spiritual life is not how far up the ladder we get, but that every day we strive to get our foot on the first rung.

In true humility, surely we admit we are faulty, sinning in thought, word and dceed. let us encourage one another.

What ideas have come to you in reading Ch 7 on Humility? Maybe someone among us will have never thought it before? Maybe you will say some thing we have been striving to hear but you say it in just the way one of us might grasp.

Reading for 02/01/08

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

February 1, June 2, October 2
Chapter 7: On Humility

The fourth degree of humility
is that he hold fast to patience with a silent mind
when in this obedience he meets with difficulties
and contradictions
and even any kind of injustice,
enduring all without growing weary or running away.
For the Scripture says,
"The one who perseveres to the end,
is the one who shall be saved" (Matt. 10:22);
and again
"Let your heart take courage, and wait for the Lord" (Ps. 26:14)!

And to show how those who are faithful
ought to endure all things, however contrary, for the Lord,
the Scripture says in the person of the suffering,
"For Your sake we are put to death all the day long;
we are considered as sheep marked for slaughter" (Ps. 43:22; Rom. 8:36).
Then, secure in their hope of a divine recompense,
they go on with joy to declare,
"But in all these trials we conquer,
through Him who has granted us His love" (Rom. 8:37).
Again, in another place the Scripture says,
"You have tested us, O God;
You have tried us a silver is tried, by fire;
You have brought us into a snare;
You have laid afflictions on our back" (Matt. 5:39-41).
And to show that we ought to be under a Superior,
it goes on to say,
"You have set men over our heads" (Ps. 65:12).

Moreover, by their patience
those faithful ones fulfill the Lord's command
in adversities and injuries:
when struck on one cheek, they offer the other;
when deprived of their tunic, they surrender also their cloak;
when forced to go a mile, they go two;
with the Apostle Paul they bear with false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26)
and bless those who curse them (1 Cor. 4:12).




http://www.brandonweb.com/gbt/sermonpages/luke28.htm
Marks of a Christian: Humility
Luke 14:7-11

Over the past few weeks we have been looking at some of the marks or identifying characteristics of a Christian. Paul carried the physical marks of Christ in his own body which identified him with the testimony of Christ. However, believers should bear some spiritual marks which identify them as well. Tonight we want to consider the mark of humility. Before Christ came into the world, the worst thing that could be said about a man was that he was humble. That was considered to be a quality of a slave, not a free man. Christ came teaching a new concept. The way up is down. To be exalted, men must humble themselves. He illustrated this principle throughout His life and ministry. One of the characteristics of this world today is selfishness and so few are truly humble. Today men can talk for hours about themselves and they are always the hero of their own stories. They never tell the tales about the times when they failed. A ball player talks about his home runs and tremendous catches that he made, but you don't hear about the strike-outs, errors, and fumbles. This attitude is also found within the local church and its members.

Much is said about what people do for the Lord, but little is spoken of what God has done for them! Humility is needed in our service to the Lord.

Read: Luke 14:7-11

I. The Meaning of Humility.

A. Definition:

1. Not proud or haughty; not arrogant or assertive; a spirit of deference or submission.

2. It is recognizing that God and others are responsible for the achievements in my life.

3. Note: 1Co. 4:7

B. Humility is a modest estimation of one's self.

1. Note: Ro. 12:3, "For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think..."

2. That goes against the philosophy of this world doesn't it?

3. The world tells us that we must sell ourselves if we want to get ahead.

4. We must learn to be assertive or we will be walked on by everyone else.

5. Could it be that God's Word is wrong or maybe out of date now?

6. Must we resort to the ways of the world to be successful in this world at what we do?

7. Note: interviews with prospective candidates...strengths and weaknesses.

8. "If I could buy that man for what he is worth and sell him for what he thinks he is worth I could make a fortune!"

II. Examples of Humility.

A. The Apostle Paul.

1. He boasted about one thing and one thing only: the Cross of Christ.

2. He certainly could have boasted in his heritage, and in his service for Christ.

3. He said little about what he had done for Christ, but much about what Christ had done for him.

B. The Lord Jesus Christ.

1. He was the central figure in heaven, but He humbled Himself and took upon Himself the form of a servant.

2. On the night before He died He taught His disciples a tremendous lesson of humility as He began to wash their dirty feet as a servant.

3. His ultimate expression of humility is seen as "...He humbled Himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross." cf Ph. 2:8

III. What does it take to develop humility?

A. Right attitude toward God.

1. Humility toward God is much like the fear of God; it begins with a high view of God's person.

2. As we see God in His majesty, awesomeness, and holiness, we are humbled before Him.

3. On every occasion in the Scriptures in which man is privileged to view God in His glory the result is humility.

4. We cannot begin to experience humility in any other relationship until we experience humility in our attitude toward God.

5. One young man we interviewed this past week made this statement about his prayer for a godly wife: "I said, God don't you dare give me a wife who will not be faithful to me!"

B. Right attitude toward God's Word.

1. A person who is truly humble before God will also be humble before God's Word.

2. Note: 2Kings 22:11-13

3. We should not treat the Word of God simply as a source of knowledge about Him.

4. We must recognize that it is an expression of His will for our daily lives.

5. As we search the Scriptures we must allow them to search us!

6. If the Lord Jesus Christ were to appear to us this evening and instruct us concerning the importance to go into all the world with the gospel we wouldn't hesitate to obey...if He instructed us on the importance of anything we would immediately obey Him...We must realize that He speaks to us this evening and every day of our lives through the Words of this Book!

C. Right attitude towards God's grace.

1. When a believer is truly humble before God and His Word, he will also be humble about his own gifts, abilities, and attainments.

2. He will realize and gratefully acknowledge that all that he is and all that he has comes from the hand of God.

3. We are quick to quote Ep. 2:8-9 concerning our salvation saying that it is all of grace, but often we want to claim some credit for what we have accomplished for the Lord since being saved!

4. Paul declared, "But by the grace of God I am what I am..." 1Co. 15:10a

Do our lives reflect this characteristic of Christ? Are we truly humble? The opposite of the spirit of humility is the spirit of pride. That doesn't come from God! Oh, how we need to learn humility! Note: 1Peter 5:5-6. Do we need to come this evening confessing before God and submitting to Him tonight?

If you are not a Christian, you need to submit yourselves to Him and receive His grace tonight for salvation. If your life is filled with pride and selfishness, you need to come and surrender to Him this evening. Let's be honest before God tonight.

Reading for Jan 31, 2008

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

January 31, June 1, October 1
Chapter 7: On Humility

The third degree of humility is that a person
for love of God
submit himself to his Superior in all obedience,
imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says,
"He became obedient even unto death."


Humility

Very Revd Dr Christopher Hancock, Dean of Bradford

http://chapel.jesus.cam.ac.uk/reading/sermons/humility.html

It is a very great pleasure to be invited to preach tonight. To be invited to Jesus [reference is to Jesus College, Cambridge University] once is generous, to be invited twice is stupendous, to be invited three times is positively miraculous! Some months ago I said I would speak on humility: it has seemed a poor idea ever since. For one virtue the church individually and corporately is reckoned by its critics to be most lacking is humility. As George Bernard Shaw declared, "The Church must learn humility, as well as teach it". In this season of Lent a certain honesty before failure, hesitancy before mystery, reticence in the realm of public morality and care about institutional integrity, would to most critics of the Church be worthy expressions of Christian Lenten penitence.

But the Church's difficulties don't end here. For the issue of humility isn't just about being humble; its being humble about the right things in the right way and at the right times. In G K Chesterton's famous words of caution, "What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has settled on the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself but undoubting about the truth. This has been exactly reversed."

So what of genuine Christian humility? That virtue hidden in the heart of the Christian God of suffering love and self-giving forgiveness, that's embodied in the life of His Son who, the ancient Christian hymn declares, "humbled himself and became obedient unto death even death on a cross" (Philippians 2:8). What can we say of this true humus in which the Christian virtues all take root and grow, this delightful aroma (to change the analogy) in a truly great person that sours when created artificially by the falsely 'umble, and yet overpowers empty vanity when it meets its living opposite? For God, the Bible makes clear, "opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James 4:6). So the wise disciple "humbles himself under the mighty hand of God" (1 Peter 5:6), and becomes the little child who is called "great in the Kingdom of Heaven" (Matthew 18:4). For humility and the essence of Christian wisdom are close cousins in the spiritual life. As T S Eliot glimpsed, "The only wisdom we can hope to acquire is the wisdom of humility".

So what of this strange virtue of Christian humility?

First, it is more difficult to define than to depict. Like musical notation, it's better understood when performed than merely scored. It's a done thing not a defined thing. For meekness, gentle self-denial, self- deprecation, self-sacrifice, forgetfulness, low self-regard, or a high regard for others, don't really capture it. But see a great musician pause to enjoy a beginners poor efforts and pass an encouraging word, and you see and know humility. As one of the college staff said of one of Magdalene's great members in recent years, "He always had time for us". And of him how true G.K.Chesterton's words once again, "It is always the secure who are humble".

This leads to the second mark of Christian humility: it is always more interested in others than self. If genuine sympathy is clouded by the sin of self-centredness, how much more true humility. For humility acts to show another matters more. It makes room, gives space, attends with care. It doesn't take itself so seriously that it can't admit others do things better and roars with laughter when its faults appear. " Without humility there can be no humanity", it's sometimes said. It's true humility which opens its heart to others and unites others in that act. If pride dehumanises self and others: humility does the reverse. No wonder Charles Simeon, echoing Augustine, said the three essential virtues of the Christian ministry were "Humility, humility, humility".

But if humility is more interested in others than self, it is also, thirdly, more committed to truth than convenience, to truthfulness than spin, we might say. For humility isn't concerned to cover up. It takes the risk of honesty. It's unvarnished authenticity, not lacquered gilding. So some will always find it - or call it - naive and untutored, irresponsible and, condescendingly, ever-so endearing or sweet - but with the implication that the humble deserve to be! St Vincent de Paul linked humility and truth, though, in a way that makes it supreme. As he wrote, "The reason why God is so great a lover of humility is because he is the great lover of truth. Now humility is nothing but truth, while pride is nothing but lying". It's why the great scholar bows for truth. Bows before a sense of the unknown and admits his own limitations and limited knowledge.

But humility is not just about attitude, it is, as we've begun to see already, also about orientation. Supremely, it's more inclined to look up to others than down on them. It's more comfortable with the lowly that the great. It is, like Jonnny Wilkinson - or so he appears - genuinely amazed, if not embarrassed, by the plaudits and sits light to human praise. As Thomas Merton once wrote, "The humble man receives praise the way a clean window takes the light of the sun. The true and more intense the light is, the less you see of the glass". Pride reflects praise: humility absorbs it appreciatively and passes it on to others. If pride was the first sin, not surprisingly humility (for it's the most essential feature of wholesome and attractive living Christianity) is the last virtue to be sought, let alone won.

So what's this genuine Christian humility? How does it express itself? In being seen at work not wondered at; in being more interested in others than self; in being more committed to truth than convenience, to truthfulness than spin; in being more inclined to look up to others than down on them, and, like the incarnate Son of God, being more comfortable with the lowly that the great. But if humility is a done thing more than a said thing: it is more often a silent thing than a loud thing. It listens more than speaks. Because it's passionate for truth it doesn't need to be defensiven, seek self-justification, or win every argument no matter what. And because the humble can never know they are (for in the act of self- refection humility evaporates, like the shadow lost by turning), humility makes no attempt to project itself. It certainly makes no pretence of being humble, and, as St Francis de Sales said, it "scarcely ever utters words of humility". No, humility is Christian silence ennobled, and Christian presence embodied in all the glory of Christ-like servanthood and strength.

And, in this Lenten season it's well to recall that humility is, lastly, more akin to sacrifice than self-indulgence. We know it by its opposites. We see it in self-giving and promote, or preserve, it in humble prayer, energetic praise, and hard-working service. For Christian humility doesn't just happen, we affect it. In New Testament Greek it's expressed as much by an active verb as a passive noun. We work to be humble by humbling ourselves. We grow in humility by deliberate humiliation. We radiate humility when the cost is unimportant and the good brought to others all that matters. But that is no more than saying, "If you really want to know what humility is, look at Jesus Christ".

Humility. It's what gives a distinctive flavour to Christian religion and philosophy. As William Law's Serious Call to Devout and Holy Life concluded, "We may as well try to see without eyes or live without breath, as to live in the spirit of religion without humility." So, as he wrote,

Let every day be a day of humility; condescend to all the weaknesses and infirmities of your fellow-creatures, cover their frailties, love their excellences, encourage their virtues, relieve their wants, rejoice in their prosperities, compassionate their distress, receive their friendship, overlook their unkindness, forgive their malice, be a servant of servants, and condescend to do the lowliest of offices to the lowest of mankind.

That is Christian humility.

Reading for Jan 30, 2008

Today's reading from the Rule of St. Benedict http://www.osb.org/rb/

Chapter 7: On Humility

The second degree of humility
is that a person love not his own will
nor take pleasure in satisfying his desires,
but model his actions on the saying of the Lord,
"I have come not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 6:38).
It is written also,
"Self-will has its punishment,
but constraint wins a crown."



It is good for me, Lord, that Thou hast humbled me, that I may learn Thy righteous judgements, and may cast away all haughtiness of heart and all presumption.
Thomas a Kempis

Humility is the secret of fellowship, and pride the secret of division.
Robert C. Chapman

Obedience is the road to freedom, humility the road to pleasure, unity the road to personality.
C.S. Lewis

The meek man is not a human mouse afflicted with a sense of his own inferiority. Rather he may be in his moral life as bold as a lion and as strong as Samson; but he has stopped being fooled about himself. He has accepted God's estimate of his own life.
A.W. Tozer

Be desirous, my son, to do the will of another rather than thine own.
Thomas a Kempis

How great victory was that which Jonathon must have gained over himself, when he rejoiced to see David raised above him! He discerned the mind of God in David, and had so learned to delight in God, that he did not see in David one who was to outshine him, but another faithful man raised up for God and Israel.
Robert C. Chapman

God created the world out of nothing, and so long as we are nothing, He can make something out of us.
Martin Luther

After all, man knows very little, and may some day learn enough of his own ignorance to fall down and pray.
Henry Adams

Pride is at the bottom of a great many errors and corruptions, and even of many evil practices, which have a great show and appearance of humility.
Matthew Henry

Make mine kneeling, for thus I came to glory.
Oliver Cromwell, while looking at statues of great men.

The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient.
Augustine

Revival is a renewed conviction of sin and repentance, followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. It is giving up one's will to God in deep humility.
Charles Finney

Grant me prudence to avoid him that flattereth me, and to endure patiently him that contradicteth me.
Thomas a Kempis

Should you ask me what is the first thing in religion, I should reply that the first, second, and third thing therein is humility.
Augustine

Many ask good questions with a design rather to justify themselves than inform themselves, rather proudly to show what is good in them than humbly to see what is bad in them.
Matthew Henry

Humility is the proper estimate of oneself.
Charles Spurgeon

People who regard themselves as invalids rather than heroes will make excellent missionaries.
Daniel Fuller