A small pamphlet where I am staying, the Abbey of Saint Walburga in Virginia Dale, Colorado, describes the life and activities of the nuns. While they do many things that our secular society would recognize as good works - they operate a reteat house, raise organic beef cattle, write, and engage in crafts - their main work, says the pamphlet, is to gather in the Chapel throughout the day to pray the Divine Office.
To modern, productivity oriented Americans, this is a mind-boggling statement. Prayer is fine, most would say, if it makes them happy. It's seen as something for the benefit of the individual, but certainly not something that the world needs.
I've been reading Michael Burleigh's book Earthly Powers: The Clash of Religion and Politics in Europe from the French Revolution to Great War. The roots of the idea that prayer is not a work, that contemplatives really contribute nothing for the good of society, are certainly evident in the brutal violence that accompanied the seizure of monasteries and their land in the nineteenth century. While we learn that pilgrims came to America to escape persecution of their religion by other Christians, we don't hear much at all of the movement towards intolerance of ANY practice of religion, at least in the public sphere, in 19th Century Europe.
Yet here is a group of women who, several times each day, gather both to praise God and to pray for peace, for families, for the poor, the sick, and the lonely. Our society may not recognize this as a good work that is needed, but their faith in the value and necessity of communal prayer does not rest on whether American society regards it as important. The Benedictine way of life is grounded in a deeper truth than social opinion, and so does not flutter in the breeze with changing ideas.
If one spends a bit of time here, the beauty and validity of this way of doing good for the world becomes apparent. Just as we need diplomats, social activists and peacemakers to work for a better world, so we need contemplatives who lead lives anchored to love of Christ, and carrying that love into a needy world.
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Friday, August 18, 2006
Sunday, August 13, 2006
ABA 6 - New ABA Board
LEFT: Richard Oliver OSB installs Theresa Schumacher OSB as new ABA President.
BELOW: Theresa Schumacker installs new ABA Vice President and Board members.
ABA-5 Sprituality: Tending Mind & Heart - Theresa Schumacher, OSB
Theresa Schumacher, incoming ABA president, looked to the future of Benedictine life in her Presidential Address. Working under the theme of Spirituality: Tending Mind and Heart, she began by calling our attention to the number of oblates and of newer monastics at the ABA.
Monastic spirituality has always combined head and heart, the fruit of academic study blended with the harvest of contemplation. She highlighted Dorothy Day, an oblate of St. Procopius Abbey, and Kathleen Norris, an oblate of Assumption Abbey, as exemplars of those who have seen the need for monastic spirituality in the modern world.
Looking back, she recalled the generic form of religious life prevalent before 1960 - people came to the monastery to teach, or nurse, or serve in parishes, but without much concern about the charism of the order. Two events changed that: Vatican II with its call for communities to recover their original charism, and the sequicential of Benedictine life in 1980, which provided an opportunity for individuals and communities to engage in a study of the Rule and monastic history grounded in the new and growing monastic scholarship.
Spirituality has emerged as a discipline, both academic and practical, distinct from religion and sometimes even outstripping religion. The sales of monastic books, the growing number of oblates, the increasing number of guests -- and the communities that have responded by expanding their guest houses and opening or renewing centers of spirituality. She asked: who will continue to meet this need and demand? How will we train and nurture those who can give spiritual sustenance from a monastic heart, into a needy world?
In 2008, when the ABA meets again, we will also mark the 40th anniversary of the death of Thomas Merton, who incorporated a deep appreciation for art and beauty with clear vision of justice and peace - and was among the first to open inter-religious dialogue. With all these elements in mind, Sr. Theresa envisions the next ABA meeting incorporating themes of inter-religious dialogue, eco-spirituality, preparation and study for spiritual development, and the place of monastic spirituality in a troubled world.
ABA 4 - Learning to Love: Family Sociology & Monasticism - Edith Bogue OSB
My talk on Saturday afternoon focused on Learning to Love as the central vocation of Christians - the trademark by which Jesus says his followers will be known. Vatican II renewed our understanding of the vocation of marriage as a path to holiness, as is monastic life, both founded on the command to love one another. 
Sociologists have spent decades studying what builds up the love in a marriage, and what tears it down, and their findings might be helpful to monastic communities. The first idea was realizing that there are various types of love - combinations of intimacy (getting to know you), passion (desiring to be with you), and commitment (willing to stay with you), exploring how these types of love might look in the monastery.
The majority of the talk focused on threats to living in love. Benedict makes provision that no one lack anything (dire poverty) but also that they not have too much. The impact of work-spend-debt cycle and advertising to children (the Nag Factor) corrodes family relationships; monastics are not immune to advertising that makes us "want more."
John Gottman's research focuses on different styles of disagreement in marriage. The Validating Couples seem like the ideal: talking out their troubles, compromising, remaining calm. Yet Volatile couples who argue often and heatedly - almost like sparring partners - and Avoidant Couples who just ignore their problems and focus on the best are just as good at staying together. The key, according to Gottman, is that they average 5 positive interactions - a word, a glance, a touch - for every negative one. When we consider all the small rituals in the Rule of Benedict, and his instruction for the seniors to bless the juniors, and kindness be shown to all, it seems as though he had an idea this was important.
The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse - the sequence of criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling - are the core elements that destroy love, according to Gottman. They drive out all positive memories; people actually can't remember what attracted them in the first place. Once the spiral has run its course, it is possible to come back - but very rare. Getting out requires a lot of work, and usually a lot of soul-searching - conversion of life - by both parties.
We had talked in the discussions about discipline - Abbot Primate Notker Wolf had spoken of the need for solid discipline in his opening talk - so I closed with Diana Baumrind's work on parenting styles. STwo dimensions - parental involvement (knowing what children care about, their struggles, their friends - being integrally involved in their life) and parental expectations & demands (requirements about fitting into the family and working towards its goals) describe four styles. When both are present, kids do well. Expectations with low involvement, and Involvement with low expectations produce kids with particular types of problems - and the connection to the mutual obedience of monastic life is clear. Other research has emphasized that, when we converse for a long time to actually understand the point of view of another person, we can understand why and how even their most negative behavior makes sense to them - and the relationship can be the foundation for building better outcomes.
After quite a few questions and comments, we broke to get ready for Vespers and the wonderful banquet provided by Benedictine University.
How Well Do You Know Your Partner - Self-questionnaire to reveal how well we know the hopes and struggles of those around us in the monastery?
(Saturday morning was devoted to the ABA Business Meeting - new officers will be installed today - and to a round-table discussion of the presentations.)
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