‘The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability of the community.’—Rule of Benedict 4:78.
‘[A monk] should not annoy his brothers. If any brother happens to make an unreasonable demand of him, he should not reject him with disdain and cause him distress, but reasonably and humbly deny the improper request.’—Rule of Benedict 31:1-7
‘If you have a disagreement with someone, make peace with them before the sun goes down.’—Rule 4:70-74.
This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says to all those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: “Build houses and settle down; plant gardens and eat what they produce. Marry and have sons and daughters; find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so that they too may have sons and daughters. Increase in number there; do not decrease. Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the LORD for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper.” (Jeremiah 29:4-7)
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.” (Ephesians 4:26)
“The true city, the holy one, allows us, in the words of Paul Philibert, an alternative ‘vision of human relationships where beauty is more desirable than financial profit, friendship more precious than advantage, and solidarity in a common vision of human dignity more compelling than self-fulfillment.’”—Kathleen Norris.
“I have abandoned my life in the town as the occasion of endless troubles, but I have not managed to get rid of myself.”—St. Basil the Great.
‘There comes a day when this job, this home, this town, this family all seem irritating and deficient beyond the bearable. There comes a period in life when I regret every major decision I’ve ever made. That is precisely the time when the spirituality of stability offers its greatest gifts.’ –Joan Chittister.
Why are at your current job? Why are you at your current church? Why are you in relationship with the people you are in relationship with?
What ‘rule’ (or rules) undergirds your job, church, and relationships?
What do we have to lose when we do not ‘stick it out?’