Listen My Son. Dwight Longenecker
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In this simple passage Benedict reminds us that we teach by both word and deed, and that one cannot succeed without the other. Benedict is also wise to point out that one form of teaching may be better for one child than another. Some children will learn more easily by being told: others need actions. Both will be watching to see if our words and actions agree, and the sobering truth is that in the end they will do as we do, not as we say.
It is vital that our teaching is backed up by our actions to avoid hypocrisy and give weight to the truth. But the need for words and actions to agree has a deeper reason, because no truth is ever valid unless it is acted on. Practising what we preach goes right to the heart of what we believe as Christians because as we practise the truth we ‘enflesh’ the truth and make it visible. Trying to live the truth means our faith is never just a matter of agreeing to the right dogma or giving intellectual assent to a system of belief. Instead, faith itself becomes a way of life, a living and dynamic force woven into our very existence.
This kind of ‘enacted faith’ also has a prophetic element. The Old Testament prophets not only spoke God's word, but they often preached directly from circumstances around them, and took certain dramatic and prophetic actions. So in the home every opportunity should be taken to join moral teaching with real-life situations. The rough and tumble of family life should provide the classroom for the soul's growth. So it isn't good enough simply to declare what is right and wrong and expect obedience, but time should be taken to explain the ramifications of wrongdoing, and why a certain thing is wrong: e.g. because it hurts people. In this way the truths of faith and morals are constantly being woven into the patterns and actions of everyday life.
January 12
May 13
September 12
CHAPTER II
WHAT KIND OF MAN THE
ABBOT SHOULD BE (C)
The Abbot must not show personal preferences in his monastery. He must not be more loving to one than to another, unless he had found him to be more advanced in goods works or in obedience. A free-born man must not be put before one entering the monastery from slavery, unless some other reasonable cause exists. But if it seems to the Abbot that there is good reason for it, let him do so, and let him do the same about the rank of anyone. Otherwise let them keep their normal order. For whether we are slaves or freemen, we are all one in Christ, and serve on equal terms in the army of one Lord; ‘for God has no favourites’. In regard to rank we find distinction in his eyes only if we are found humble and better than others in good works. Therefore the Abbot should show himself equally loving to all, and maintain discipline impartially according to the merits of each.
In his life of St Benedict, Gregory the Great tells us how the community at Monte Cassino was composed of men from many different races and social strata. In managing them Benedict gives the basic rule that there is to be no favouritism in the abbot's dealings with his monks. God has no favourites (Rom. 2.11) and neither must the loving abba. Each person has equal favour in God's eyes; whether slave or free we are all one in Christ (Gal. 3.28). But this equality does not mean everyone is identical.
The abbot must overlook social rank. A monk entering from slavery or from the nobility is to be treated the same. This sounds very modern and enlightened, but we shouldn't think Benedict's attitude is exactly the same as our modern ideas of equality. Too often when we speak of equality we assume the lowest common denominator and reduce every individual to that degrading standard. Modern equality often means nothing more than drab uniformity. Too often ‘equality’ really means no one is permitted to excel. When Benedict speaks of not having favourites he is not endorsing a society of mindless fashion clones.
Instead, each monk is to be treated with an equal amount of love and attention. One is not favoured, because all are favoured. The loving abba recognizes in each one of his charges a unique, precious child of God with a set of gifts and needs like no other. He has no favourites because they cannot be compared. Each one is different and requires a unique blend of attention and delight.
So it must be in the home. It is difficult not to favour one child over another. One may be blessed with a sweet and loving nature while another is troubled with a sour and disagreeable disposition. We need grace to see in each one a special challenge to our love. Often the most troublesome people are the most gifted. Can we see the hidden abilities and gifts within the troublesome child? Are we aware of the faults which may lie hidden under the sweet demeanour of that favourite? The wise and loving father looks beyond the outward appearance and treats each member of the family with a blend of discipline and love which is just right for them. This may be an impossible ideal to attain, but we must always aim for the target – even if we often miss.
January 13
May 14
September 13
CHAPTER II
WHAT KIND OF MAN THE
ABBOT SHOULD BE (D)
In his teaching the Abbot should always observe the method of the Apostle, ‘Employ arguments, appeals and rebukes.’ He must behave differently at different times, sometimes using threats, sometimes encouragement. He must show the tough attitude of a master, and also the loving affection of a father. Thus he should sternly reprimand the undisciplined and unruly, but entreat the obedient, the meek and the patient to go forward in virtue; as for the careless and the scornful, we instruct him to rebuke and correct them. He should not pretend that he does not see the faults of offenders, but remember the danger overhanging Eli, priest of Shiloh and, as best he can, he should cut them out by the roots as soon as they begin to show themselves. He should correct upright and intelligent minds with verbal admonitions once or twice, but the shameless, the thick-skinned and the proud or disobedient, he should repress at the very beginning of their sinful ways with the corporal punishment of blows, bearing in mind what is written, ‘The fool is not corrected by words,’ and again, ‘Strike your son with the rod and you will deliver his soul from death.’
Benedict encourages the kind of equality which treats everyone equally while recognizing that they are not the same. How to do this can be summed up in one sentence from today's reading: He [the abbot] must show the tough attitude of a master, and also the loving affection of a father’. He must behave differently at different times with ‘arguments, appeals and rebukes (2 Tim. 4.2): he needs to use both threats and encouragement.
As usual, Benedict's advice is simple, profound and full of common sense. He will give more detail about monastic discipline in the so-called ‘penal code’ of chapters 21–30, but here Benedict lays down some important foundation principles. First of all the abbot understands that discipline is not primarily to maintain communal order, but to build character. He will therefore focus on the faults of the individual and root them out like noxious