(51) Malleable

"Unfortunately the Rule of Saint Benedict has been largely
lost to our time. While Benedictine abbeys and monasteries
still function throughout the world, their number and influence
are small. The Rule itself is written in a context and language
that means little to our secular culture. Very few of us share
the same world view or religious beliefs as Saint Benedict.
Almost none of us want to, or could, retire to a monastery.
Nevertheless, at the heart of the Rule is a core of truth about
the human condition. It contains a series of brilliant insights
concerning how one might make ordinary life into something
deeply fulfilling."
[John McQuiston II, ALWAYS WE BEGIN AGAIN: THE
BENEDICTINE WAY OF LIVING, Morehouse Publishing,
1996, p. 4.]

Comment: As John McQuiston put, at the time his book was
published, he was a middle-aged lawyer who hadn't really
been very involved with spirituality nor the church. He
attended church, but it didn't seem to have an impact. Sounds
familiar.

On the other hand, he had arrived at a point in his life where
he was looking for something "more." That sounds familiar, too!

Due to a small variety of circumstances, Mr. McQuiston
stumbled over St. Benedict. He and his wife had made a
visit to England and toured through Canterbury Cathedral.
While there he met some people connected with a group
called the "Canterbury Trust," which is an American support
group of the cathedral--and especially focuses on the ancient
Benedictine roots of the cathedral.

Upon return to the U.S., he kept in touch with the Canterbury
Trust--and through his association with the group, John
McQuiston decided to probe deeper into the Benedictine
Tradition by reading some of the recent books on such.

Mr. McQuiston readily admits that he still is not enamored by
church, however it would seem he fell in love with the
Benedictine Rule! Nonetheless, he realized that the cultural
milieu--as well as the language--out of which it came can
hold back modern people. So John McQuiston decided to
re-write major parts of the Benedictine Rule, whilst careful to
keep the meaning intact. He re-worked the Rule for people
who were looking for meaning, for a reasonable discipline to
follow, that would enrich their lives, that would still reflect
the relationship with the Holy.

For McQuiston, the Rule of Benedict can be transliterated to
be meaningful on an *universal* level, meaningful for anyone
who has eyes to see, ears to hear. So he set forth doing this,
and I believe successfully so!

I read through his little book and came away feeling that
McQuiston did *not* take away from St. Benedict's Rule.
Via modern language he makes the Rule far more accessible
to people unimagined, people out in the world who not only
have never (or rarely) set foot in a church, much less thought
much of anything about monasticism. Nicely, McQuiston
has brought forth the truth and humanity that Benedict's Rule
embodies.

After reading through his little book, I felt that McQuiston's
effort has done no harm and, at the same time, has widened
the net--so to speak.

Maybe. as time rolls on, we will come to see that the
Benedictine Tradition can touch almost anyone, anywhere,
under any kind of circumstance. That's the kind of insight
that Benedict's little Rule provides. And it's malleable!