‘But as for you, return to your God, hold fast to love and justice, and wait continually
for your God’ (Hosea 12.6)

Dear Friends

Do you have a ‘rule of life’? Not just a routine, a regular way of doing things, which
can become alien from your real hopes and aspirations, but a set of core values
and a way of ordering your life so that you are content and have a sense of personal
wholeness? This might be a religious faith, or a plan for the next stage in your life, or
simply a personal code which gives you some control over your life.
July 11th this year falls on a Sunday, but it’s normally the special day in the Church’s
year on which we commemorate Benedict of Nursia, Abbot of Monte Cassino, and
Father of Western Monasticism, who lived about 1500 years ago. Benedict is above
all famous for his ‘Rule’* , a way of leading not just a personal spiritual life, but
actually of living in community, with common values and discipline, to the end that
there is a great sense of wholeness and shared purpose.

Many people today are attracted by the idea of a rule of life, which puts the love
of God and love of one’s neighbour before all other things. This is not a retreat
into some pseudo-medieval nostalgia, but a real counter-cultural quest for values
and inspiration. It will not only help people survive in a world where so many are
desperately anxious about the future, but will also help build a community of prayer
and enlightenment about how the world can be changed for the better, in the spirit of
the Old Testament prophets, like Hosea quoted above.

Jesus basically teaches that you can’t go out and find like-minded people who are
willing to work together to challenge received opinions and fixed ideas unless you
have the foundations of your own life and values in good order. Benedict’s radical
rule of life is a good model by which to review your life and motives, and perhaps
make a start. And it starts with humility and putting others first. It starts with seeing
yourself as part of the bigger picture, with acknowledging the interests of community
and other people and committing yourself to the genuine sharing of resources in the
common interest. These are high ideals, but the tremendous monastic movement
which sprang out of Benedict’s teaching testifies that such ideals met a real human
need – it strikes me that such need has never been greater than in the society of which
we are part.

Yours in Christ,

Charles Hill

*discover The Rule for yourself at www.osb.org/rb/text/toc.html