What the Monks Can Teach Us (Part 3)

The Monks are big on Obedience. The hierarchical structure of the monastery is one evidence of the essential role of obedience in the monastic life. Most people run from obedience. We tend to prefer the path of the rebel (with or without a cause). Nevertheless, obedience is a part of life. Indeed, to truly live life well means knowing when and how to obey well.

Think of the fisherman who feels the tug of a solid bite on his fishing line. The fisherman "obeys" the fishing line's tug by yanking back on his fishing pole and setting the hook. To do this requires some attention to the fishing line. I remember when my father took me fishing on one of our family camping trips. We sat out on the lake and dropped our lines deep into the water. I had a bobble connected to my line so that I could see as well as feel the tug of the fishing line when I had a bite. After a few minutes, nothing happened. I began looking around the lake, down in the boat and just about everywhere except for the fishing line. Then I heard my father say, "Ryan, you got a bite, you got a bite!" But, by the time I refocused from my distractions it was too late. The fish had slipped off the hook.

Christian Monasticism sees obedience as listening. In the original languages, the two words obey and listen are semantically connected. Older English translations often used the word "heed" to express this connection: listening so as to obey. The first word of St. Benedict's Rule is "Listen." Being able to listen (obey) well in life is the foundation of monastic spirituality. When monks read Scripture, they speak it aloud and listen to it with focused and reflective attention. This kind of meditative and prayerful reading of Scripture is described in Latin as Lectio Divina (Divine Reading). Listening is so important to living the abundant life that Jesus brings to us (John 10:10).

The sacrament of the moment, or as Will Derske calls it, a “life of one piece,” (sound familiar) is a central theme of Benedictine monasticism. Joan Chittister writes in Wisdom Distilled from the Daily, her devotional commentary on the Rule of Benedict:

The Spiritual life, in other words, is not achieved by denying one part of life for the sake of another. The spiritual life is achieved only by listening to all of life and learning to respond to each of its dimensions wholly and with integrity.[1]

James 1:19-20 reminds us,

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.

The art of Christian listening is something the monks can teach us. They listened to authority in Scripture, in the accountability of their Christian brothers and sisters, and in the work of God throughout the whole world. May we learn to listen well.

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[1] Chittister, Joan D. (1990). Wisdom distilled from the daily: living the Rule of St. Benedict today. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 16