On thing that St. Benedict teaches us is that we do not all have to be the same to get along and be at peace. One day, as I was passing through the dining room, I saw an apple and an orange sitting next to one another on the coffee table where the daily newspaper and some recent magazines are kept. I could not help but capture the moment with a photo because it spoke to me on multiple levels, “How like us that is!”
In all honesty, this photo of the fruit on the coffee table was the inspiration of another blog, “Random Moments,” that took my reflection in a whole different direction from this one. (How random yet so common to find two dissimilar pieces of fruit on their way to somewhere else!) Since that random encounter with the coffee table fruit, I have continued to ponder the ways in which this image represents some truth of our life in the monastery as well as life in general.
St. Benedict encouraged his disciples to not only seek peace but also to pursue it—to chase after it with intention, energy and urgency. Real peace takes effort! However, St. Benedict’s approach to creating a peaceful community did not demand absolute conformity to any worldly ideal; rather, he recognized and honored the natural differences among the community members in intellect, ability, age, education, experience, and potential. His first community was a “motley crew” if there ever was one. Newly-baptized Gothic barbarians sat at table with patrician students well-versed in classical language and culture. Old and young, priests and lay people, rich and poor, literate and illiterate, weak and strong, sick and healthy—all of these had a place in St. Benedict’s vision of monastic community. Everything in the monastery was to be structured so that the strong had something to yearn for and the weak nothing to run from (RB 64.19).
In RB chapter 3 on summoning the community for counsel, St. Benedict makes clear that the members are naturally going to have differences of opinion and perspective on matters. All of the members, regardless of age, rank, or intellectual ability, are to be allowed to share their own views and opinions with humility but not to presume to defend their own views obstinately (3.3-4). When a decision is made, all of the members are to obediently follow the course of action to be taken. This is so that proper order and peace in the community can be maintained. It isn’t that everyone in the community is going to like the decision or agree with its outcome. Each member is to place his or her trust in God and make the best of the situation moving forward.
In our monastery we joke about having thirty different ways to wash the dishes with each Sister being convinced that her way is the “right” way. Some approach the task with optimum speed and efficiency. Others prefer a slower and more contemplative approach. When it comes to regulating the building temperatures, there are Sisters who want the air conditioning on year round while other Sisters are calling for more heat. For holidays, some overworked Sisters want a day to rest and relax in quiet solitude while others prefer more collective activity and common recreation. The great miracle of community life is that somehow peace is possible in spite of our many differences of needs, abilities, and opinions!
The foolishness of the polarizing dynamics of current political and social ideologies is that their rhetoric and actions reveal a high level of intolerance for differences. Anyone who has a different opinion is regarded as an enemy to be “canceled.” Instead of honest debates and discussions about facts and policies, the general public has had to endure baseless conspiracy theories and the undermining of respect for the dignity of human persons. To all of this, St. Benedict would quietly raise his forefinger to his lips, inviting the world to listen. “Listen to the absurdity of your own words. Listen to the values that you are promoting. Then listen to the words of Scripture, to the words of Jesus who commanded his disciples to love both neighbor and enemy and to seek first the Kingdom of God.”
Perhaps the apples and the oranges of the world might someday learn to co-exist peacefully without arguing over which one is the prettier, more nutritious, and more delicious fruit!
By Sister Therese Haydel, OSB