When You're On a Journey, You Should Go to Church
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
When you’re on a journey, you should go to church. Most church people, pastors included, view a Sunday out of town as a get-out-of-jail-free card, but if you’re in a different town on a Sunday you should go to a church. There’s this tool called the internet (perhaps you’ve heard of it) where you can find information on a church, wherever . . .
The Observance of Lent
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
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Lent is more than 8 months away, so it’s silly to be writing about it now, but chapter 49 of the Rule of Benedict is on “The Observance of Lent.” Many Protestant traditions jettisoned most of the church year, retaining only Christmas and Easter, and so I often get curious questions about Lent from Christians who don’t observe it. “What . . .
When to Work
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
Monks work. Some imagine monks living an idle of life of quiet and prayer, but that’s not a complete picture. Part of a monk’s life is devoted to labor. Different monasteries have different ways of supporting themselves. If you can get some fudge made at Gethsemani Abbey, you should do so because it’s delicious, and making the fudge and other . . .
If You Screwed Up, You Should Probably Just Say So
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
I wrote last fall about the monks’ practice of kneeling out. If a monk has made a mistake in their common prayer gathering, he or she will, at the end, go and kneel in the middle of the church until everyone has left. It’s a way of acknowledging the mistake and moving past it. Chapters 45 and 46 of the Rule of St. Benedict address this, . . .
Benedict Wants You to Show Up on Time
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
Making and keeping promises draws a community together. Any time a group exists--whether it is a church, family, nation, business, club--promises are made and kept. When I’m officiating at a wedding I notice this, that these two people are making commitments to each other and their togetherness will continue in the keeping of those . . .
Silence After Compline
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
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I guess, before artificial lighting and electricity, that night had an intensity we dulled with all our things. I’m not suggesting we jettison our modern conveniences, but before televisions and radios and computers and electric lighting, I imagine the night hours were different. We hold back the night with 24 cable programming and . . .
At What Hours the Meals Should be Taken
Reflections on the Rule of St. Benedict
One monastery I visited last summer had a dog, and when the bell was rung the dog would bark. Ring-ring-ring would go the bell, and the dog howled and barked along. What the bell and the dog were saying is "Stop what you are doing and come to prayer." That bell is a regular reminder, marking the hours and times and drawing the . . .