Stability (Feast of St. Benedict)
Preacher: Margaret Bauman
Preached on: July 17th, 2011
Audio:
No recordingScripture Text:
Rule of Benedict, Chapter 58: On the Manner of Receiving Sisters/Brothers
Sermon:
Twelve months or more. That’s the timeline outlined in today’s reading from Chapter 58 of the Rule of Benedict. Any person wishing to join a Benedictine monastery must endure at least a full year of “persisting in their petition” before being fully received into the community. My limited understanding of the Rule leads me to believe that such a long period of waiting would help both the perspective member and the established members determine if the potential “newbie” has the patience to remain in one place – to be able, with an open heart – to take the vow of Stability.
Thankfully, the “membership” requirements here at the Church of St. Benedict aren’t quite so strict. J I’d like to think that even though none of us here has had to “persist in our petition” for membership, that we can still embrace the Benedictine vow of Stability.
We live in a fast-paced, often transitory culture. Stability is not the norm. We’re encouraged to let go and move on from any situation that isn’t “working” for us. We are not encouraged to stay put and “work it out” – at least not by the world. Benedict recognized however that staying put is often exactly what God is calling us to do.
When we put God at the center of our lives, we experience a stability of spirit. Having a stable, God-centered spirit allows us to be in community with others – our families, friends, co-workers, neighbors – the list of those we can be “in community with” is, obviously, quite long. I hope you’re blessed, as I am, to have many of your communities overlap.
Friends who are also members of our Church. Co-workers who are also neighbors. When our communities overlap, it is often easier to be fully present for those other members. The more we know about the other members of our communities, the more committed we become to them. And, the more committed we become, the easier it is to stay put in those communities. We can gain a real understanding that these people, in this place, are important.
Active participation in our communities can lead to a deep sense of really belonging, to a sense of purpose, to a contentment in staying put. Benedict taught, and I think he was right, that resting in God – staying put with Him – allows us to be fully present to others in our communities. This can be difficult in our busy world. It’s often hard to stay put when our minds are full of to-do lists.
When we keep God in our hearts, it’s easier to stay put. It’s easier to quiet our minds and be fully present to others when our hearts are stable.
There are many ways to keep our hearts stable. One of my favorites is Lectio Divina [lek-see-oh deh-vee’-na] which means “holy reading” and is an ancient practice combining scripture reading and prayer. The basics are this: pick a passage of scripture – usually a few verses – and read them, slowly. (I find it helps to read them aloud.) When a word or short phrase catches your attention, stop reading and meditate on that word or phrase – repeating it – silently or aloud – for a few moments. Then, talk with God – that is, pray – about how the word or phrase is speaking to you. Stay put with God as long as you’re comfortable. I’ll admit, some days my comfort level is only 5 minutes, but I still believe 5 minutes with God is better than no minutes. J Stability with God helps us turn off the to-do lists, the worry-what-ifs, and the regret-if-onlys that threaten to keep our minds and hearts fixed anywhere but on God.
Focused, active participation with our communities is another way to stay put. Busyness is not in and of itself a bad thing – as demonstrated so ably by EVERYONE who participated in making yesterday’s Festival such a success. I hope all of the volunteers, vendors and guests experienced at least some sense of the stability of this place – that “stay-put-ted-ness” of a God-focused community.
Busyness, however, can be, sometimes conveniently, very distracting. We can get so caught up in working on our to-do lists that we aren’t fully present to the other members of our communities. We can easily become me-focused instead of God-focused. Benedict’s Rule, that all members of the community commit to Stability – or staying put – helps us remember that we aren’t the center of the universe. When our busyness isn’t for the good of the community, but is instead used as an escape from being God-focused and fully present for other members of the community, that’s when we’re most likely to separate from our communities.
In her book “St. Benedict’s Toolbox”, author Jane Tomaine uses a quote from another author, Elizabeth Canham, to give us an overview of the Benedictine Rule on stability. Canham says: “The vow of Stability affirms sameness, a willingness to attend to the present moment, to the reality of this place, these people, as God’s gift to me and the setting where I live out my discipleship. We are discouraged from fantasizing some ideal situation in which we will finally be able to pray and live as we should. Instead Benedict says, ‘Be here; find Christ in the restless teenager, demanding parent, insensitive employer, dull preacher, lukewarm congregation’”.
As a member of the community of the Church of St. Benedict, I’m blessed to know nothing of dull preachers or lukewarm congregations! J I can relate, however, to fantasizing about having the ideal life of prayer and service to God. How much better to follow Benedict’s edict to stay put in this place, in these circumstances, focused on God and Christ’s presence in every person I encounter. When I am able to turn off the to-do lists, the worry-what-ifs, and the regret-if-onlys and truly focus on the other members of my many communities, I have a sense of the peace that stability can bring.
My prayer for all of us, as we celebrate the feast of our patron saint, Benedict of Nursia, is that we will embrace his Rule of Stability – that “stay-put-ted-ness” that makes this such a wonderful community and that we will continue to be here, in this place, present for each other and focused on Christ’s presence in everyone we meet.
Amen.
