I'm going to put the Listening Post blog on hold for a little longer. Frankly, over the summer a lot of my thoughts about contemplative life changed. I haven't sorted it all out yet but it did have me deleting many of the contemplative blogs and links that I usually visit. Just a bit of morphing and I need a little more time to sort it all through.
I posted this at Listening Post a while ago when looking for book recommendations. One of the few things that still rings true.
There may be ONE perfect book out there and you may NOT have it
but you might be close to it. Maybe? Perhaps that book is The Complete Calvin and Hobbes which I happen to own in all of its multi-pound glory. It comes pretty close to perfection I tell you.
One of the books that helped me when I was first starting to explore contemplative life was Joan Chittister's The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages. I was most interested in the Benedictines (pronounced Benedict -inns
as NWC reminds me...) for some reason and I was really lost as to where
to begin. There wasn't much on the internet and what was there seemed
to be for people who already understood everything. Like the subculture
I had just left, there was an inside language using words like "hours"
and "rule" and "practice" and pithy latin phrases. I was pretty
confused and didn't quite know where to begin. This thing was not
novice friendly. There were a lot of experiential stories but not a lot
of people talking about what practice meant and how to implement it
outside of a structured community. This is a place where many of my
friends found ourselves -interested but definitely outside and more
than a little frustrated.
After quite a bit of bumbling around, I stumbled onto the online version of Insights for the Ages which is provided by the Benedictine Sisters of Erie.
They have divided up Chittister's commentary on Benedict's Rule into
sections so it can be read through daily up to three times a year. I
found it really helpful and have returned to it again and again. It
doesn't so much contemporize Benedict (something I'm not fond of - hey
kids it's groovy Benedict and his kickass rule for life!) and his rule
as provide, as the title suggests, insights as to why these things were
important then and where they might speak to a community and individual
centuries removed in time and space.
I've taken a break from reading this online but I miss Chittister's
warm and welcoming voice and may include it my morning routine once
again. I am especially fond of the chapter on humility which I summarized here for my own use.
