Radical Spirit

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by Joan Chittister


  Truly, we are forbidden to do our own will, for Scripture tells us: “Turn away from your desires” (Sir. 18:30). And in prayer too we ask that God’s “will be done” in us (Matt. 6:10). We are rightly taught not to do our own will, since we dread what Scripture says: “There are ways which some call right that in the end plunge into the depths of hell” (Prov. 16:25). Moreover, we fear what is said of those who ignore this: “They are corrupt and have become depraved in their desires” (Ps. 14:1).

  As for the desires of the body, we must believe that God is always with us, for “All my desires are known to you” (Ps. 38:10), as the prophet tells God. We must then be on guard against any base desire, because death is stationed near the gateway of pleasure. For this reason Scripture warns us, “Pursue not your lusts” (Sir. 18:30).

  Accordingly, if “the eyes of God are watching the good and the wicked” (Prov. 15:3), if at all times “the Holy One looks down from the heavens on us to see whether we understand and seek God” (Ps. 14:2); and if every day the angels assigned to us report our deeds to God day and night, then we must be vigilant every hour or, as the prophet says in the psalm, God may observe us “falling” at some time into evil and “so made worthless” (Ps. 14:3). After sparing us for a while because God is loving and waits for us to improve, we may be told later, “This you did, and I said nothing” (Ps. 50:21).

  The second step of humility is that we love not our own will nor take pleasure in the satisfaction of our desires; rather we shall imitate by our actions that saying of Christ’s: “I have come not to do my own will, but the will of the One who sent me” (John 6:38). Similarly we read, “Consent merits punishment; constraint wins a crown.”

  The third step of humility is that we submit to the prioress or abbot in all obedience for the love of God, imitating Jesus Christ, of whom the apostle says: “Christ became obedient even to death” (Phil. 2:8).

  The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, our hearts quietly embrace suffering and endure it without weakening or seeking escape. For Scripture has it: “Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22), and again, “Be brave of heart and rely on God” (Ps. 27:14). Another passage shows how the faithful must endure everything, even contradiction, for the sake of the Holy One, saying in the person of those who suffer, “For your sake we are put to death continually; we are regarded as sheep marked for slaughter” (Rom. 8:36; Ps. 44:22). They are so confident in their expectation of reward from God that they continue joyfully and say, “But in all this we overcome because of Christ who so greatly loved us” (Rom. 8:37). Elsewhere Scripture says: “O God, you have tested us, you have tried us as silver is tried by fire; you have led us into a snare, you have placed afflictions on our backs” (Ps. 66:10–11). Then, to show that we ought to be under a prioress or an abbot, it adds: “You have placed others over our heads” (Ps. 66:12).

  In truth, those who are patient amid hardships and unjust treatment are fulfilling God’s command: “When struck on one cheek, they turn the other; when deprived of their coat, they offer their cloak also; when pressed into service for one mile, they go two” (Matt. 5:39–41). With the apostle Paul, they bear with “false companions, endure persecution, and bless those who curse them” (2 Cor. 11:26; 1 Cor. 4:12).

  The fifth step of humility is that we do not conceal from the abbot or prioress any sinful thoughts entering our hearts, or any wrongs committed in secret, but rather confess them humbly. Concerning this, Scripture exhorts us: “Make known your way to the Holy One and hope in God” (Ps. 37:5). And again, “Confess to the Holy One, for goodness and mercy endure forever” (Ps. 106:1; Ps. 118:1). So too the prophet: “To you I have acknowledged my offense; my faults I have not concealed. I have said: Against myself I will report my faults to you, and you have forgiven the wickedness of my heart” (Ps. 32:5).

  The sixth step of humility is that we are content with the lowest and most menial treatment, and regard ourselves as a poor and worthless worker in whatever task we are given, saying with the prophet: “I am insignificant and ignorant, no better than a beast before you, yet I am with you always” (Ps. 73:22–23).

  The seventh step of humility is that we not only admit with our tongues but are also convinced in our hearts that we are inferior to all and of less value, humbling ourselves and saying with the prophet: “I am truly a worm, not even human, scorned and despised by all” (Ps. 22:7). “I was exalted, then I was humbled and overwhelmed with confusion” (Ps. 88:16). And again, “It is a blessing that you have humbled me so that I can learn your commandments” (Ps. 119:71, 73).

  The eighth step of humility is that we do only what is endorsed by the common rule of the monastery and the example set by the prioress or abbot.

  The ninth step of humility is that we control our tongues and remain silent, not speaking unless asked a question, for Scripture warns, “In a flood of words you will not avoid sinning” (Prov. 10:19), and “A talkative person goes about aimlessly on earth” (Ps. 140:12).

  The tenth step of humility is that we are not given to ready laughter, for it is written: “Only fools raise their voices in laughter” (Sir. 21:23).

  The eleventh step of humility is that we speak gently and without laughter, seriously and with becoming modesty, briefly and reasonably, but without raising our voices, as it is written: “The wise are known by few words.”

  The twelfth step of humility is that we always manifest humility in our bearing no less than in our hearts, so that it is evident at the Opus Dei, in the oratory, the monastery or the garden, on a journey or in the field, or anywhere else. Whether sitting, walking, or standing, our heads must be bowed and our eyes cast down. Judging ourselves always guilty on account of our sins, we should consider that we are already at the fearful judgment, and constantly say in our hearts what the publican in the Gospel said with downcast eyes: “I am a sinner, not worthy to look up to the heavens” (Luke 18:13). And with the prophet: “I am bowed down and humbled in every way” (Ps. 38: 7–9; Ps. 119:107).

  Now, therefore, after ascending all these steps of humility, we will quickly arrive at the “perfect love” of God which “casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Through this love, all that we once performed with dread, we will now begin to observe without effort, as though naturally, from habit, no longer out of fear of hell, but out of love for Christ, good habit, and delight in virtue. All this God will by the Holy Spirit graciously manifest in us now cleansed of vices and sins.

  Three versions of the Rule of Benedict have been used in this book:

  The Holy Rule of Our Most Holy Father Benedict Translated from Latin, Rev. Boniface Verheyen, OSB, The Abbey Student Press, St. Benedict’s College, Atchison, KS, 1935.

  RB: 1980 The Rule of St. Benedict in English ed. Timothy Fry, OSB, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 1981.

  A Reader’s Version of the Rule of Saint Benedict in Inclusive Language, a transliteration edited and adapted by Marilyn Schauble, OSB, and Barbara Wojciak, Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Erie, PA, 1989.

  Don’t be fooled: books are not a solitary enterprise. Oh, the writing is, of course, but the process itself is a complex one. Eliminate any part of the enterprise and the work itself is in doubt. For that, every writer must be consciously grateful. And I am.

  I’m grateful in a special way for my editor, Gary Jansen, whose ear for what the world needs most to think about is both reassuring and energizing.

  I’m forever grateful to my Benedictine community of sisters who make it possible for me to write and whose work on that behalf has been at least as much as my own.

  I’m always grateful for my assistant, Susan Doubet, OSB, whose work on the preparation of the manuscript is thorough, precise, and faithful. Always.

  Finally, I’m grateful for the bank of readers who think through the ideas with me in a very special and real way by simply reading the manuscript for me before it’s published and are honest about what they find—or do not fi
nd there.

  In the end, then, it is the effect of a book on a reader that measures the scope of its impact, the depth of its wisdom, the range of its meaning. Writing, in other words, is a kind of spiritual collaboration between the writer and the reader. What a writer describes, readers test against their own insights and sentience. It’s that testing that determines the electricity between writers and their readership.

  The readers who worked their way through Radical Spirit were particularly important. After all, this is a book written on three levels—the autobiographical, the social-psychological, and the spiritual—about feelings and issues and spiritual depth. These readers tested their questions, their experiences, and their own spiritual insights against the manuscript and helped me flesh it out on every level.

  The readers who gave so much of themselves to this text are: Susan Doubet, OSB, Kathleen Felong, Harry Finkbone, Gail Freyne, Darcy Johnson, Mary Lou Kownacki, OSB, Annette Marshall, OSB, Anne McCarthy, OSB, Breanna Mekuly, Kathleen Schatzberg, Jacqueline Small, and Nancy Small.

  For all of that I’m deeply grateful.

 

 

 


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