Benedict's Simple Lifestyle

Benedict’s simple lifestyle  asks us to care for the goods of the earth, to revere one another, to eat and drink in moderation, to pray where we work, to think deeply about life every day, to read, to sleep well, to be content with what we have, to pray daily and to treasure community.

Living in Enough

In his Rule Benedict tells us we need enough food so that we are not hungry, enough clothing so that we are not cold, enough tools to get the job done, enough laughter to keep a pleasant attitude towards life, and enough correction to keep us on the right path.

 

Conversion and Growth

If we live the divine rhythm of prayer, work, study and leisure that God gives us we have time to deal with the broken places in our lives and come to recognize that we aren’t what we ought to be, not what we want to be, but thank God, we are not what we used to be.

 

Benefits to Living Simply

Living a simple lifestyle enables us to let go of a critical spirit, to let go of things we cannot change, to let go of resentments, of pride, of heaviness of heart that weighs us down.

 

Travelling Light

Living a simple lifestyle enables us to loosen our grip on material things; letting go of our stuff enables us to travel light, to leave  baggage we don’t need behind.

Letting Go

In some ways, living in moderation, in harmony and balance, is a process of letting go.

 

Slow Down

Benedict, in his Rule, asks us to slow down so we can be human as well as efficient, be loving as well as informed, be caring as well as knowledgeable, be happy as well as respected.

 

God-hungry Imagination

The human imagination hungers for substance, for meaning, for God.  Benedict’s simple lifestyle       provides the harmony and balance to feed our God-hungry imagination .

 

The human imagination hungers for substance, for meaning, for God.  Benedict’s simple lifestyle           

 

The Gift of the Present

The here and now, this present moment, is all we have to make something beautiful of our life for God; if we hurry through the present moment, we often squander the gift of the day.   

 

Living in Nature's Rhythms

Our left-brain dominant culture, always in a hurry, tricks us into believing there is never enough time for what we need to do, so we ignore nature’s slower rhythms and measure time in minutes and  seconds, burn the midnight oil rather than sleeping under the light of the moon, and begin to live into the worries and “what ifs” of tomorrow.

 

Giving Time

Living simply—a balanced life--affords us time to calm down, to breathe deeply and to discern our choices.

Leisure

We need times of leisure – times to ask forgiveness, to encourage others, to give us the grace to keep on going.

Doing Nothing

Every person’s day should contain time for “doing nothing” but enjoying the sights and sounds around us—the whistling wind, the birds’ songs,  the children playing, the colorful flowers, the sunset.

Being

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Our lives get lopsided when we stuff them with too much activity; we get so packed down  with things to DO that we have no time to BE.

Restoring the Divine Image

Feast of St Scholastica, virgin  - sister of St Benedict

The invitation to enter into a life of prayer, work, study and leisure is a gift to restore the fullness of the divine image in which God has made us.

Living in Moderation

According to Benedict, all things—eating, drinking, sleeping, reading, working and praying—should be done in moderation; there should be something of everything and not too much of anything.

 

All-day, Everyday Living

This simple lifestyle requires an all-day, everyday living of all of life—work, study, prayer and leisure—in moderation and in balance.

Balanced Rhythm

The life of PRAYER—personal and communal—is holy;  STUDY—improving and enriching one’s knowledge is holy; WORK—on a job or at home—is holy; LEISURE—renewing of mind and body--is holy.  This whole balanced rhythm is holy.

 

Living in Enough

Benedictine spirituality calls us to strive to live in that “state of enough”—not too little, not too

much—a lifestyle with a rhythm of the four aspects of living:  prayer, study, work and leisure.

 

Simplicity and Balance of Life

February – SIMPLICITY & BALANCE OF LIFE

We commit ourselves to be faithful in finding God in the ordinary circumstances of our life.

Text:  “Benedict prescribed ‘nothing harsh, nothing burdensome’ for his followers.” Prologue, RB

 

Monday, February 3  Feasts of St Blaise, bishop & martyr; St Ansgar, bishop

The simplicity of the Benedictine lifestyle has a lot to do with living in a state of “enough.”  Benedict didn’t advocate living in a state of lacking, nor espouse living in excess, but rather living in a state of “enough,” a state of moderation.