is community created?
or found?
it appears that st benedict
set about creating community
rather deliberately
on the other hand
maybe that was just a response
to those guys who kept following him around
who wouldn't leave him alone
when he went off alone to pray
reading st benedict's rule lately
reignites my passion for christianity
at least a little
what is it about his words
that inspires me
to want to be good
to want to seek god?
i feel like i'm skating on two skis
i had a long glide
on the track of buddhism
for the past nine months or so
finding there some tools
to deal with life's disappointments
tools that were not easily accessible to me
in christianity
and an inkling of community
among like-minded spirits
but i never shook off
the ski of christianity from my other foot
am i ready now for a long glide on that ski
finding there an inspiriation
a personal call from the mystery behind it all?
am i called to work to build community
among the christians who are already in my life?
or rather to seek out other christians
with whom i might have more in common?
i think there is much in the rule of st benedict
that would appeal to my evangelical friends
would they join me in seeking inspiration there?
or would i be better off seeking out those
who already are drawn to the rule?
just some musings
on a saturday morning
thinking about starting
some sort of group in our home
benedict advises to begin
every good work with prayer
pray for me brothers and sisters
Communities are founded on affiliations through personal interests like collecting Egyptian scarabs, or postage stamps from the South Sudan. Imagine the country just started last month but already they are getting their postage stamps ready and in the future, I think there will be clubs devoted to collecting them and experts who argue that theirs are better than the others'.
ReplyDeletewould someone in this damn community like to tell me why it's so phuqqing difficult to post a comment i mean shouldn't community be a place of free express
ReplyDeleteo i guess i have to state my full name
ReplyDeleteok
humble me
yeah
that's my name
tumbleweed
is what they call me
anyway sally
ReplyDeletethis is the 3rd time i've had to say this
and i'm allowing the feelings of frustration
to enter into the discussion
wilderness
holy man holy woman go there
classic paradigm
old as the hills
he or she waits around fasting
praying
if you do that
don't forget your
gaurdian angel
facundo cabral says
we are afraid to make friends
with the one real ally we have
if only we would it would be
happiness unimagined
the rule of benedict presumes soem sort of daily discipline
ReplyDeletehe is actually pretty flexible when it comes to
organizing times for things
perhaps work out a prayer time
that people would arrive at
agree to sit in quiet for 5 -10
minutes
recite or chant a psalm
read from scripture (gospel of the day)
response psalm
petitions
our father
blessing
and everyone go their separate ways
with little fanfare
a home as a prayer station
people simply agreeing to meet there
regularly if not every day
the nice thing about recognizing feast days
is that these days can give rise to
songs that could be sung
maybe i haven't encouraged you enough
or maybe i haven't the foggiest idea
how to go about helping
but
nontheless
i bestow a blessing on your intent
and you desire
jh
this sounds similar
ReplyDeleteto what i had in mind
perhaps a resumption of our
friday night group
beginning with a potluck supper
then open with a sung psalm or two
(from the st john's psalter)
leading into contemporary worship songs
or hymns that people in the group know
leading into 5-10 minutes of silence (a la taize)
perhaps with a reading from the rule of benedict
or other christian literature
and a reading from scripture
interspersed with the songs
then after the silence
a time of structured sharing
modeled after my buddhist sangha
where it is stressed that this is
not a conversation
but simply a chance
for anyone who wants to
to say what is on their mind
something they are grateful for
something they are struggling with
something that struck them
from one of the readings
or that arose within them during the silence
then end with catholic-style prayer
two or three lines read from the missal or glenstal prayer book
followed by a chance for others to offer
their own single-phrase prayers
(trying to avoid long drawn out periods
of sharing prayer requests, which is typical
in my tradition and instead just
have people speak their requests
in the form of actual prayers)
then close with the lord's prayer
(thanks for the reminder--
i had forgotten about that)
and a benediction
that's how i've been thinking about it
the challenge is
getting people together
on a regular basis
when we don't all live together
its one thing at a monastery
to walk down the hall to the church
its another if you've got to drive
10-15 minutes each way to get there
that makes it harder to commit
to something daily
but i think something
weekly or bi-weekly could work
the above outline
was for an evening meeting
at our home
an alternative might be something
shorter and simpler
for morning prayer at our church
leave out a lot the contemporary songs
sing or recite a couple of songs
have a short reading
and then the prayers
it all sounds good in theory
but i wonder
do i have time
to commit to something like that
even on a weekly basis
i had to miss the last two meetings
of our lenten morning prayer
because of work-related travel one week
and illness the next
ah well
i place it all in God's hands
we'll see where he leads
i meant "sing or recite a couple of psalms" (not "songs") in the 4th to the last paragraph
ReplyDeletemy sense
ReplyDeleteand i only say thi as a suggestion
when starting something liek prayer in the home
less is more
it might also be beneficial to think of stations
one night your house the next night the church
next night another house
etc.
i think it's important to start short and simple and allow something to grow
one song one psalm one reading
20 minutes
30 max
let the community building aspects
grow out of what is happening
just a thought
jh