One of the most famous sayings, or mottoes, to arise from Benedictine spirituality is the phrase, “ora et labora,” meaning “prayer and work.” It’s a shorthand way of gathering up the insights about the value, both spiritual and physical, in achieving and maintaining a proper balance in one’s life between one’s vocations to serve God…

One of the little lessons I remember from my years of taking private lessons to play the alto saxophone is that music comprises both sound and silence. In many ways, the silence provides the setting, the foundation, from which the melodies and harmonies arise and take their shape in our ears’ memories. The famous opening…

The chapter’s title, “At What Hours Should the Brothers Take Their Meals?”, led me to believe I would be reading my way through a thicket of details, with little to find worthy of adapting to my daily life. And the truth is that much of this section does concern itself with the timing and frequency…

In recent weeks, Anne, my wife, and I have met with our pastor, the Rev. Ron Drury, and another member of our parish to discuss adapting the model constitution for congregations in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America to our congregation, Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Hickman, Nebraska. This project will update the current…

Benedictine spirituality is well known for its delight in balance. The famous dictum, “Ora et labora,” captures in three words the search for balance between prayer and work. The traditional vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, when adapted for oblates, become sufficiency, stability, and obedience. This balances the ideals of the religious life with the…

I am basically a shy person, an introvert, so it’s always been a little puzzling to me that I made the decision almost twenty-four years ago to attend seminary and to prepare for a vocation that would place me in front of crowds and call me to speak in public. As I followed that calling,…

One of my friends in college, Mustafah, was a student from Iran who had come to the United States to study. He was “trapped” in this country when the Shah was deposed and the Ayatollah Khomeini came to power in Iran in 1979. Because he was cut off from family, he depended upon aid from…

When I attended the retreat at the Benedictine Mission House in Schuyler, Neb., last year, I, along with my fellow retreatants, ate midday and evening meals with monks in the monastery. The meals were served “family-style,” with one of the monks cooking and another serving the food. When I look back on the experience, I’m…

Right after St. Benedict talks about how possessions can take on the power to possess their owner—me!—he turns to the question of how the community distributes necessities, depending upon need. It’s a stretch for me to listen to this passage and let it shape my thoughts about my life, partly because my daily life is…

One of the commitments I have made as a Novice Oblate is to immerse myself in the Rule of St. Benedict. This is a slender book, and my tendency is to read quickly so I can give myself the check-mark for completing the book. But that’s not the spirit that fosters rumination, chewing the wisdom…