A weekly commentary on the Rule of Benedict: The Fifth Step of Humility (RB 7:44-48)
“The fifth step of humility is that we do not conceal from the prioress/abbot any sinful thoughts entering our hearts, or any wrongs committed in secret, but rather confess them humbly.”
In Benedict’s fifth step on the ladder of humility he says that we have to disclose our sinful thoughts and wrongs we have done to the abbot or prioress. My gut reaction whenever I read this is always “no way!” But my second reaction is to remember a quote I read from an abbot of a Trappist monastery who described community life by saying “we walk around naked.” Obviously no one was physically naked but when people live together in close proximity year after year, there are no secrets. This reality changes what it means to confess thoughts or actions to the abbot or prioress.
My first reaction may be that I don’t want to tell the prioress all the thoughts that are going through my head or the various actions that I’m not proud of but if I am honest I have to admit it isn’t likely I can tell her anything that she (and the whole community!) doesn’t already know. I tend to imagine the prioress responding: “yeah, what else you got?” when I think I am telling her some deep, dark secret. The point and purpose of this disclosure is much deeper.
Several things happen in this process of speaking out loud things that come from within. When I come before the prioress I am consciously stripped of my illusion that I have it together, my illusion that no one is going to notice my short-comings. I am also stripped of my illusion that I am alone on this journey and that everything is up to me. To say out loud what is deep in my heart, especially when it involves things that I don’t like about myself, is to create a new, transformed reality. This stripping of illusions is the basis for humility, creating room for God in my heart.
It is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we have it together, that since everyone else has the same issues mine don’t really matter. I can get caught in a trap of saying that all my faults are just peccadilloes and the prioress really has better things to listen to. The reality is that one of the most profound things we can experience is to be vulnerable before someone and experience the reality that we are still loved despite what we may have done, said or thought. Without the action of actually saying what is going on in our head and having someone hear it with love, we don’t change, we simply re-run the same thoughts, actions, patterns on our mental hamster wheel without ever changing. To come before someone and say out loud what we would rather not face is the beginning of change.
This disclosure of thoughts is also a correction to the feeling that many of us have that somehow our spiritual growth is entirely up to us. Our culture tends to reinforce the idea that each of us is autonomous and responsible for our own fate. Benedict’s ladder of humility is a reminder that while we are responsible for ourselves we are also responsible for one another. This in turn means that I have support on the journey. The prioress listens not to chastise or punish but to remind each sister that she does not walk this path alone but is supported by an entire community. Benedict has his monks talk to the abbot, we talk to the prioress, to be reminded that we are not alone. When we walk this path together we all share each others burdens and the joys.
Perhaps the most profound lesson for humility in this step is how things change when we say them out loud. Reality changes when words are spoken out loud. Our deepest fears, joys, feelings of guilt or happiness, change when we express them. Joy that is shared expands in the telling. Shame that is exposed to the light of day in the telling begins to dissipate. Thoughts and actions that are shared with the prioress in love take on a new shape. They begin to form the soil of humility, the soil of transformation.
Benedict’s admonitions have an application far beyond any monastic community. We are called to share deeply of our thoughts and actions with someone we trust. It is in risking, trusting, speaking and listening that we open our hearts and cultivate the soil of humility in our lives.
4 comments:
Thanks for this post. I certainly can see the value in owning ones sins out loud to another person. Although it is not something I have ever done being Protestant and not having it part of my faith tradition. You enlightened me, as you always do, in the posting. I never knew that the prioress listened to confession within the community. Of course, it only makes sense but I had never thought about it before.
Thanks Nancy, the prioress in a community does not formally hear confessions, just to be clear! This was more a comment on the Rule than on our practice. The prioress always listens informally and supports every sister but we don't do things like Benedict did, perhaps to our detriment!
Wow thank you for sharing and how strongly and humbly expressed :). I am a discerner and I have a lot going on in my mind as I discern. Reading this just helped me have an understanding that I don't believe I had prior to reading this it has touched my heart and I am like wow. Is your community of Religious good teachers?? I am sure after reading this they are good Spiritual Directors thank you for sharing may God reward yous.
Oh, how I needed to hear this today!! The blessed relief that follows confession, whether it is before a priest, a superior, or a friend is one of life's miracles and is one of God's tenderest mercies. However, I had never considered the value of community that you talk about, the humility of true authenticity and transparency with those with whom you travel through life. Sometimes it is they who I put on the biggest mask!!
You have opened a door for me, sister. Do I have to courage to act? I don't know. But I am going to find out!
Thank you and thank Jesus for His gentle shepherding of all of us.
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