Isn’t it strange how the society we live in is rooted in work? We are surrounded by busy people, who never seem to slow down or tire. This year I live among some of the most tireless workers I know in the Brothers of St. John. There is a difference, however, a spark which animates their tasks. I’m not only surrounded by wonderful workers, but the secret lies in that I am surrounded by wonderfully contemplative people who are striving to live an ordered life.
Coming into this life of Ora et Labora, I’ve discovered that I enjoy working. To have a vision for a finished product that fulfills all the necessary requirements and is a direct result of your hard work, it’s nice. That is not a summit, however.
The question is: why do I work with such intensity? I’m not saying that to be productive is no good, and to enjoy molding material into something new is disordered. I’m saying that if I find my value in the work that I produce, then I may fall prey to the whims of the world. It’s been quite a wake-up call. To discover that I measure the success of my day by the tasks that I’ve accomplished is shocking.
Now that I realize that I’ve wrongly placed work above prayer (labora et ora), I am striving to fight my way out of the fog and into life animated by love. How do I stop my mind from its incessant racing back and forth around a problem, or a project when it ought to be focusing on the supreme gift of being in the presence of the master? How do I allow Christ to animate my life, even my work, instead of allowing my work to drive my life always to the next project?
This post contains a lot of questions that will take me years to find the answers to. Hopefully, through giving God this year, and striving from moment to moment to be mindful of His will, I can start to reorder my life so that God is truly at the center.
Master, where do you dwell?
My searching heart longs for truth,
Rising and falling as an ocean swell,
Reaching farther away from this place,
Aid me to come back from where I fell,
This life is nothing without you,
Meet me as the woman at the well,
Give me new life to begin again,
Your secret of love within my hear tell,
Reassemble the broken pieces,
Oh Master, where do you dwell?
From Egypt, John Cassian (360-435 AD) brought Egyptian monasticism to Europe and later it was a major influence on St. Benedict (480-543 AD) whose Rule for monks became the Rule followed by most monks and nuns in Europe.
ReplyDeleteAs the western part of the Roman Empire was falling apart by corruption, moral collapse, and foreign barbarian attacks, Benedictine monasteries preserved knowledge and helped refound European culture. Benedictines were at the center of education and economic development as well because towns and cities often grew up around the Benedictine monasteries.
During times of the greatest chaos and political turmoil, as the dust from the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire still hung in the air, the Benedictine monasteries were oases of peace and spiritual power. Especially today their deep spirituality is the reason many people turn to the ancient spiritual practices that can be traced back to the Egyptian desert fathers and the monastic spirit — the “journey to dwell with God.”
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