Provided in a Spirit of Goodwill
Yesterday I mentioned that on and off over the past decade I’ve read (and attempted to follow) a modern interpretation of the Rule of St. Benedict, called Always We Begin Again by John McQuiston II. I recommend searching out a copy.
Here’s an excerpt from the beginning chapter called “The First Rule”—
Attend to these instructions, listen with the heart and the mind; they are provided in a spirit of goodwill.
These words are addressed to anyone who is willing to renounce the delusion that the meaning of life can be learned; whoever is ready to take up the greater weapon of fidelity to a way of living that transcends understanding.
The first rule is simply this: live this life and do whatever is done in a spirit of Thanksgiving.
Abandon attempts to achieve security, they are futile, give up the search for wealth, it is demeaning, quit the search for salvation, it is selfish, and come to comfortable rest in the certainty that those who participate in this life with an attitude of Thanksgiving will receive its full promise.
Challenging words to be sure that seem to hit me in the primary hidey holes I flee to when insecure—the two paths that seem to spell safety—the worldly way of accumulating wealth and the ‘spiritual’ way of achieving heaven.
January 4, 2013