The Tools of the Spiritual Craft

I apologize for the tardiness of this post. It was definitely a longer one for me to write out this morning, and I already had a late start. Today's Lectio Divina comes from The Rule of Saint Benedict Chapter 4:55-78

55Listen readily to holy reading, 56and devote yourself often to prayer. 57Every day with tears and sighs confess your past sins to God in prayer 58and change from these evil ways in the future.

59Donot gratify the promptings of the flesh (Gal 5:16); 60hate the urgings of self-will. 61Obey the orders of the abbot unreservedly, even if his own conduct—which God forbid—be at odds with what he says. Remember the teaching of the Lord: Do what they say, not what they do (Matt 23:3).

62Do not aspire to be called holy before you really are, but first be holy that you may more truly be called so. 63Live by God’s commandments every day; 64treasure chastity, 65harbor neither hatred 66nor jealousy of anyone, 67and do nothing out of envy. 68Do not love quarreling; 69shun arrogance. 70Respect the elders 71and love the young. 72Pray for your enemies out of love for Christ. 73If you have a dispute with someone, make peace with him before the sun goes down.

74And finally, never lose hope in God’s mercy.

75These, then, are the tools of the spiritual craft. 76When we have used them without ceasing day and night and have returned them on judgment day, our wages will be the reward the Lord has promised: 77What the eye has not seen nor the ear heard, God has prepared for those who love him (1 Cor 2:9).

78The workshop where we are to toil faithfully at all these tasks is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.

St. Benedict lays out for us "the tools of the spiritual craft". These are things that we can and should be doing in our daily lives to have a better spiritual life.

We should  listen - or read - to holy readings every day, and devote ourselves to prayer very often. The Church has a lectionary with Epistle and Gospel readings for every day - and there are apps such as the Daily Readings app by GOArch, and the Catena app which make those readings readily available. And we can always pray the Jesus Prayer at any time of day.

We should resist the temptations of the flesh and resist the urgings of self-will. Giving in to temptation leads to destruction, and Christ prayed, "not my will, byt yours be done," and taught us in the Our Father (Lord's Prayer), "Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." We are supposed to submit our will to God.

To help with submitting our will to God we need to submit ourselves to those in authority over us - even when they say one thing and do another. This reaches us humility, and can teach us to subdue our anger and arrogance. 

We should not aspire to be called holy because that can lead to pride and prelest. There are a few people that I would call holy, or living saints - they would be mortified to know that - their actions and words in their daily lives show that they are trying to live a holy life. We too should strive for living a holy life - not to be called holy by others, but because we are called to be holy. At a monastery not far from me there is a sign that can be seen telling visitors not to all the monks holy, so too should we strive to not be called holy, but to try to live a holy life.

There are virtues we should chase - such as chastity; not just of body, but of mind and spirit, too. And there are vices we should shun and flee from - such as hatred, jealousy, envy, quarreling, and arrogance. Fleeing from virtues and chasing vices - the reverse of what we are supposed to do - can and often does lead to damage in our own lives, and the lives of those around us.

We should respect our elders; they have been where we are, they have had their own struggles in life, and they can impart wisdom if we are willing to listen. We should love the young; they are our future and they are - or they will be - where we were. We should teach them and guide them lovingly in the way they should go.

We should pray for our enemies. This is a very hard one for me because I have been hurt by some who were close to me. But if Christ can call out from the Cross, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do," how can I do any less?

Praying should also lead to forgiveness. It is not good for our mental health, or our spiritual health, to hold on to grudges. We are told to forgive those who wrong us, and in the Lord's Prayer we ask God to forgive those who trespass against us. How can we rightly ask God to do something that we are not willing to do ourselves?

This next one I think is the most important: never lose hope in God's mercy. I have often heard from former Christians that they lost their faith because it seemed like God wasn't there, or never answered their prayers. I have been there, and it is a struggle for sure. But God showed us the ultimate mercy when He became man, died for us, and then defeated Death. The world is often a terrible place, but God in His mercy not only has provided a place for us, but also a way to get there.

We must use the tools of the spiritual craft every day to help us along the way God has provided for us. Our wages for the hard work this brings is what God has prepared for us. It might not seem like much from where we are, but we are like fish swimming in a polluted river - it is hard for us to imagine a large, clean, fresh water lake when all we know is filth. But we must keep in mind the promises made. God promised us a Savior and a Messiah, and He sent us a Savior and Messiah - so if we are promised a reward we should believe it will happen.

St. Benedict tells us that the workshop where we are to toil is the monastery, and the stability of the community. But obviously not all of us are monastics and we don't live in a monastery. All is not lost, though, as we should strive to turn our homes into monasteries - by which I mean we should fill our  homes with prayers, and our constant toils to live a holy life. The community is our parish, on which we should lean and offer our help.

God has given us the tools to accomplish all of this. And He has given us the community to help us. We are not alone.