Benedictine Life

Benedictine Life

“Listen carefully, my child, to my instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart.”— Prologue to Rule of Benedict

In the 6th century, Benedict of Nursia tried to follow a spiritual path by himself and realized he had to do this in community. From his awareness, we now have the Rule of Benedict, a way to find and follow God in community, balancing work, study, sleep, worship and prayers, and recreation. Members of Benedictine monasteries have used this rule for centuries.

Today, people are developing ways to follow a rule as they live in the secular world, still connecting in community with spiritual friends and spiritual directors.  

This prologue to the rule is my favorite part of the rule. “Listen with the ear of your heart.” This is the call to spiritual life, a way to live in the world that is still connected to God. First, we are to listen and pay attention. We are to use the ear of our hearts. We are to connect to something outside ourselves, hearing and loving. We hear and learn about love in a community outside of ourselves.  

There are many outstanding books about the Rule of Benedict. I will share three favorites, but I would like to hear from others about the books that have been most helpful as you try to find your rule of life.

The Rule of Benedict, A Spirituality for the 21st Century by Joan Chittister, is used by the International Community of Hope to train lay pastoral caregivers, immersing them in Benedictine spirituality. Joan Chittister writes a short meditation after each part of the rule and applies it to everyday life.

 Always We Begin Again, The Benedictine Way of Living is a pocket-sized small book someone can carry daily. Memphis lawyer John McQuiston II wrote this modernization of Benedict’s Rule and included a sample rule of life.

 St. Benedict’s Toolbox is precisely what the author, Jane Tomaine, calls it in her subtitle, The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Benedictine Living.

 All three books are outstanding to read together in community, learning and supporting each other.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Cloud of the Unknowing

Cloud of Unknowing

“The universes which are amenable to the intellect can never satisfy the instincts of the heart.”—The Cloud of Unknowing, Anonymous.

I recall the morning some time ago before flying back to Arkansas from Montana. I looked forward to seeing blue skies above a cloudy day. Also, the older I get, the more anxious I seem on travel days. I wake up early in the morning and look out on Whitefish Lake to see a large cloud above the water. It seems to be getting larger and closer to the water.

There is no sound except for an occasional crow calling nearby and a slight breeze rustling the aspen leaves in the trees beside the beach. The quiet, the cloud now turning into the fog, which is more like a whisper as it approaches the lake, gives this spot of northern Montana a mystical countenance.

The timeless 14th-century book The Cloud of Unknowing by Anonymous enlightens us about Christian mysticism. We call something mystical if it is not obvious or understood by our senses or minds. When we see such beauty as the clouds and the lake in this cool early morning, we cannot explain the experience by what we know.

It calms my soul on a day when I pray for calm, patience, and flexibility. Our experience tells us we have known this presence before when we took the time to be present with it.

I hope this trip with my family has reinforced living in the present. I long to stay present in the moment and not miss again the many clouds of unknowing that disappear as I write about them.

I will stop writing so I can experience the clouds one last time. I long to keep them in the album of my imagination of times experiencing the majestic beauty of the precious present.

Joanna https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Being with the Dying

Being with the Dying

“Witnessing a death is a profound experience for everyone, family members and loved ones, and for health care professionals who have cared for the patient-and, certainly, for the person who ministers spiritually. When you have sat vigil with a dying soul, you are forever changed. You have experienced a great mystery.”—Megory Anderson, Attending the Dying: A Handbook of Practical Guidelines (Morehouse Publishing 2005).

Megory Anderson has written a large volume on being with the dying and a short pocket-sized handbook. So many people come for spiritual direction related to a death. Someone significant has died or is about to die. Often, the death is imminent. If there is time, I review Megory Anderson’s concrete directions and then give them the small handbook. My experience is that they often do not even have time to digest the handbook, which can be helpful. Frequently, the person or caregiver is so overwhelmed that even reading is challenging.

 It is similar to my experience with hospice. My father-in-law was put on hospice care the day before he died. Unfortunately, we often wait too long before asking for help or accepting the reality of the situation.

Anderson teaches us so much. Being with someone who is dying is a sacred ministry. It can be one of the greatest gifts given to someone. Attending the dying is like the privilege of being at a birthing. It is a sometimes painful celebration of a new life.

I especially try to reread her section about creating a sacred space. We talk to the family about clearing clutter from the room, bringing in sacred objects such as devotional icons, prayer beads, photographs, childhood books, reading favorite stories, and even childhood poems. Favorite music, a lighted candle, a favorite quilt, and fresh flowers from someone’s garden remind us that something special is happening here.

We come to be with the person dying, listen to them, and hear their story. Conversations should be directed to them. My experience is always to speak to the dying as if they could hear what we say.

 As death approaches, I know of many who midwife their loved ones into a new life by singing favorite hymns, reading the psalms, taking turns saying prayers, and performing rituals for the dying from their traditions.

After the death, saying prayers and preparing the body can be one last loving ritual for family and special friends. For example, my father-in-law grew magnificent roses. The night he died, our family took rose petals from the flowers in his room and scattered them over his body before walking his body out to the funeral hearse.

This book is invaluable to anyone attending the dying. The author describes the preparation for death, the death process, what to do afterward, and how to react to the unusual behavior of well-meaning family and friends. Unfortunately, we rarely have a guidebook for life’s more difficult journeys. This book is one.

Joanna          https://www.joannaseibert.com/