Читать книгу Listen My Son - Dwight Longenecker - Страница 19

We propose, therefore to establish a school of the Lord's service, and in setting it up we hope we shall lay down nothing that is harsh or hard to bear. But if for adequate reason, for the correction of faults or the preservation of charity, some degree of restraint is laid down, do not then and there be overcome with terror, and run away from the way of salvation, for its beginning must needs be difficult. On the contrary, through the continual practice of monastic observance and the life of faith, our hearts are opened wide, and the way of God's commandments is run in a sweetness of love that is beyond words. Let us then never withdraw from discipleship to him, but persevering in his teachings in the monastery till death, let us share the sufferings of Christ through patience, and so deserve also to share in his kingdom.

If Benedict was firm in yesterday's reading, then in today's passage he shows his gentler nature. In fact, the stricter portions of the Rule are lifted from earlier monastic rules which served as Benedict's sources. Today's reading, with its surge of tenderness and joy, is Benedict's own. Here he shows how the authority of a Christian father is properly expressed.

He does not wish to lay down anything ‘too harsh or burdensome’, and Benedict is even at pains to explain that the strict rules that do exist are there ‘for the correction of faults or the preservation of charity’. In the previous passage Benedict may have warned solemnly of the pains of hell, but here he uses a carrot, not a stick, to encourage his child in faith. If he perseveres he will ‘run in the way of God's commandments with a sweetness of love that is beyond expression’.

So God's primary way of working is to draw us with the infinite delight of his love. Instead of the fear of hell, Benedict calls us to run in the way of God's commandments because that is what is best for us. Some discipline will be required, but that is because we are being summoned to grow up and become all that God intended, and to share in the highest and best gifts of his creation (Eph. 4.13). To quote Julian of Norwich: ‘He loves us and enjoys us, and so he wills that we love him and enjoy him and firmly trust him; and all shall be well.’

The role of the Christian father is to reflect this kind of divine love to his children, so that in growing to love him they will be learning to love their heavenly Father as well. This will require discipline, but that discipline is always a servant to the higher law of love. Great wisdom is also required if we are to reflect God's love to our family. To do this Benedict will show us in his own gentle and humble way the wisdom necessary to fulfil this vocation. But he will also always remind us that ‘we must ask God to send forth the help of his grace to our aid’. Then as the love of Christ is poured into our hearts (Rom. 5.5) we will be empowered to minister that love to those whom God has entrusted to our care.