Always We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living (15th Anniversary Edition, Revised)

To be satisfied in life We must transcend the desire for satisfaction. We must cast off our own appetites. We must free ourselves from our own self-centeredness. In order to accomplish this, we must practice obedience.

Putting ourselves at the center of existence isolates us. We are relational, dependent creatures, and we are not the purpose of the cosmos.

We should share in labor and take turns in service. As a task is handed from one to another, approval and thanks should also be passed from one to another, so that good will and blessings are distributed with the work.

If your sleep is untroubled, accept the rest you are given. If you are caught up with concern, meditate and pray. In the night we are most vulnerable to fear. Give thanks for your trouble, and accept that life includes trouble as well as joy. All is given out of the mystery that called us into being, and of which we are. One day a week should be a

if we are to become strong enough to emancipate ourselves from the tyranny of our own cravings, we must train our constitutions by the continuous exercise of obedience to other persons and to the dictates of our circumstances.

We should modify our prayers and meditations with the seasons, so that from season to season there is change, but from year to year there is repetition.

It is a good thing to deprive oneself of certain needs and comforts periodically, to fast and meditate, and to resume normal life with thanks, renewed appreciation, and joy. The material side of existence should be treated reverently as a gift from that incomprehensible source of all things, and valued as the means of daily life for ourselves and o

The only genuinely wealthy are those who are satisfied with what they have.

Let no one presume that we are more than passing shadows, created from we know not what, for a purpose we cannot understand.