Living the Benedictine way

Two weeks ago on a Saturday night I was on my way home. In Stellenbosch I received a call informing me that my flight to Amsterdam was cancelled.  Fortunately they immediately booked me on another flight via Johannesburg and then onto Amsterdam, however this was 24 hrs later. On the one hand this was a big disappointment - especially for those at home - but soon the bright side of it all became apparent. Again one more day in this beautiful environment. There was nothing I could change and so I could easily accept it and turn it into a positive experience. This was not difficult at all. It gave me the opportunity to consciously experience this day without any obligations as a true gift.

In my daily life I actually experience every day as a new gift. In the morning I start with a ritual - a short meditation - to greet the day with silence and contemplation. At the end of each day I usually close off with listening to a short version of a Celtic compline - each night a different one - and an evening prayer. A good start and a worthy closure. In between those two moments my day unfolds with a lot of variety. A healthy rhythm gives structure to my daily life and helps me to stay on top of the hectic realities. I do not always succeed, but it surely does help.  

In his book: "Allow yourself time to truly live your life", Notker Wolf describes different ways how to tackle the hurried modern life. In my eyes he is a most remarkable man. Serving as  prime abbot of the Benedictine order, he is a major liaison for about 800 monasteries around the world and travels extensively. In his own time he plays electric guitar in a rockband, is a fervent fan of the Rolling Stones and writes regularly columns for a woman’s magazine. It's not exactly a picture most people have when thinking of a Benedictine abbot.

That's all the more a reason for me to value his book on this subject. He wrote it as someone who is well acquainted with life in the modern world with all its demands and revers to the ancient Rule of St. Benedict as a guideline for today. This Rule addresses issues as how to have a healthy rhythm, living a moderate life, dealing with imperfection and disturbances.

So how does that work? According to him it all comes back to developing the right attitude towards yourself, your work and to others. Besides there are certain habits that are beneficial when you develop them and integrate them in your daily life. Starting and maintaining rituals, discovering joy in small things, approaching life with humor and constructively deal with times that you have to be waiting: Living the Benedictine way.

This spring we will arrange another open seminar - a retreat of several days - in a monastery to discover more about a way of life that is healthy, making room and giving attention to things that are a source of inspiration and energy for our human hearts. Living in the present, connected to the past and living with expectancy for a healthy future.

Albert Hoekstra