The spiritual life is not something that is gotten for the wishing or assumed by affectation.
The spiritual life takes discipline. It is something to be learned, to be internalized. It’s not a set of daily
exercises; it’s a way of life, an attitude of mind, an orientation of soul. And it is gotten by being
schooled until no rules are necessary.
Among the ancients there is a story told that confirms this insight to this day:
“What action shall I perform to attain God?” the disciple asked the elder.
“If you wish to attain God, the elder said, there are two things you must know. The first is that efforts
to attain God are of no avail.”
“And the second?” the disciple insisted.
“The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first,” the elder said.
Clearly, great pursuers of the spiritual life know that the secret of the spiritual life is to live it until it
becomes real.
The private preserves of the spiritual life are far from dead, however. It is so much easier to go to daily
Mass and feel good about it than to serve soup at a soup kitchen. It is so much more comfortable to say
bedtime prayers than to speak peace in a warring world. It is so much more satisfying to contribute to
the building of a new church than it is to advocate welfare legislation. It is so much more heroic to fast
than to be patient with a noisy neighbor. It is so much easier to give the handshake of peace in church
than to speak gently in the family. And yet one without the other is surely fraud if life with God in
community is truly of the essence of real spiritual growth.
Life is very short. To get the most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions without
which life is only half lived. Holiness is in the Now but we go through life only half conscious of it,
asleep or intent on being someplace other than where we are. We need to open our eyes and see
things as they exist around us: what is valuable and what is not, what enriches and what does not, what
is of God and what is not. It may be the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want
that will really make human beings out of us. It may be the job we have, rather than the position we
are selling our souls to get, that will finally liberate us from ourselves. It may be what we do rather than
the prayers we pray that will finally be the measure of our sanctity.
God is calling us to more than the material level of life and God is waiting to bring us to it. All we have
to do is live well with others and live totally in God. All we have to do is to learn to listen to the voice
of God in life. And we have to do it with heart, soul, and body.
–from The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages by Joan Chittister (Crossroad)
The spiritual life takes discipline. It is something to be learned, to be internalized. It’s not a set of daily
exercises; it’s a way of life, an attitude of mind, an orientation of soul. And it is gotten by being
schooled until no rules are necessary.
Among the ancients there is a story told that confirms this insight to this day:
“What action shall I perform to attain God?” the disciple asked the elder.
“If you wish to attain God, the elder said, there are two things you must know. The first is that efforts
to attain God are of no avail.”
“And the second?” the disciple insisted.
“The second is that you must act as if you did not know the first,” the elder said.
Clearly, great pursuers of the spiritual life know that the secret of the spiritual life is to live it until it
becomes real.
The private preserves of the spiritual life are far from dead, however. It is so much easier to go to daily
Mass and feel good about it than to serve soup at a soup kitchen. It is so much more comfortable to say
bedtime prayers than to speak peace in a warring world. It is so much more satisfying to contribute to
the building of a new church than it is to advocate welfare legislation. It is so much more heroic to fast
than to be patient with a noisy neighbor. It is so much easier to give the handshake of peace in church
than to speak gently in the family. And yet one without the other is surely fraud if life with God in
community is truly of the essence of real spiritual growth.
Life is very short. To get the most out of it, we must begin to attend to its spiritual dimensions without
which life is only half lived. Holiness is in the Now but we go through life only half conscious of it,
asleep or intent on being someplace other than where we are. We need to open our eyes and see
things as they exist around us: what is valuable and what is not, what enriches and what does not, what
is of God and what is not. It may be the neighborhood we live in rather than the neighborhood we want
that will really make human beings out of us. It may be the job we have, rather than the position we
are selling our souls to get, that will finally liberate us from ourselves. It may be what we do rather than
the prayers we pray that will finally be the measure of our sanctity.
God is calling us to more than the material level of life and God is waiting to bring us to it. All we have
to do is live well with others and live totally in God. All we have to do is to learn to listen to the voice
of God in life. And we have to do it with heart, soul, and body.
–from The Rule of Benedict: Insights for the Ages by Joan Chittister (Crossroad)
UNTIL NO RULES ARE NECESSARY
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