The Rule of Benedict: A Spirituality for the 21st Century (Spiritual Legacy Series)

prayer is warfare to the last breath.’”

Even the spiritual life can become an arrogant trap if we do not realize that the spiritual life is not a game that is won by the development of spiritual skills. The spiritual life is simply the God-life already at work in us.

Two ideas permeate the Rule of Benedict: love and wisdom. Love is the motive; wisdom is the goal and the Way.

In monastic spirituality, then, leadership is not intent on making things right; leadership is intent on making life right.

those who hold authority in a community are not to be above the group, they are to be the centers of it, the norm of it, the movers of it. They themselves are to mirror its values. Their job is not simply to give orders. Their job is to live out the ideals.

Do your work, then step back. The only path to serenity.

They are to be directors of souls who serve the group by “coaxing, reproving, and encouraging” it—by prodding and pressing and persuading it—to struggle as they have struggled to grow in depth, in sincerity, and in holiness, to grow despite weaknesses, to grow beyond weaknesses.

the message of Benedictine spirituality is a consistent one: live life normally, live life thoughtfully, live life profoundly, live life well.

In the minor hours, the psalms carry us from hardship to joy, from inner captivity to liberation, from despair to trust. It is a message to us all that remembering to trust in God can be enough to carry us for a lifetime.