And if we wish to dwell in the tabernacle of this kingdom, we shall never reach it unless we run there by our good deeds

But let us ask the Lord with the Prophet, saying to him: Lord, who shall dwell in your tent, or who shall rest upon your holy mountain? (Ps 15:1) After this question, let us hear the Lord answering and showing us the way to his tent, saying: One who walks without stain and works justice; one who speaks truth in his heart, who has not practiced deceit with his tongue, one who has done no evil to his neighbor, and has not believed false accusations against his neighbor. (Ps 15:2-3).

One who has brought the malignant devil to naught, casting him out of the sight of his heart with all his suggestions, and has taken hold of his bad thoughts, while they were still young, and dashed them down upon Christ. (Ps 15:4, 137:9)

Comment

The following is adapted from Esther de Waal's A Life-Giving Way. De Waal is a marvelous author, who has been writing for years about the way the spirit of the Rule can affect the daily life of a great variety of people. She has directed week-long session in England and the US, in which people live in the pattern set up by the Rule, and reflect on its implications for their lives.

Who will dwell in your tent, Lord? It is the one who speaks the truth from his heart. Nowhere in the prologue does Benedict actually use the phrase made famous by John Cassian "purity of heart," yet this is what Benedict is talking about. So many of the psalms ask: "Who can enter into the tabernacle?" The answer of the law-giver will be "one who does this or that." The answer here really leads us into the heart of things. There are no external requirements, such as the washing of hands or feet. What is required is an inner washing, "One who speaks the truth from his heart." This is that inner unity, truthfulness, and harmony that constitute the "purity of heart" that Benedict is looking for. Through the rest of the Rule, this will be the yardstick by which Benedict will measure progress.

The focus of this struggle of good and evil is not to be found in the outside world, but within the individual person. The danger lies within my own self, the inner temptations, the evil thoughts that rise so easily and catch me unaware, destructive of my best intentions. The way Benedict speaks of these is as the work of the devil, who must be foiled. Benedict never avoids the issue, when it is a matter of the utmost seriousness, which this is. He tells me to deal with these thoughts at once, stifle them at birth, as it were.

The image that Benedict uses is of dashing our thoughts (of jealousy, envy, of dissatisfaction with myself or my situation, of criticism of my neighbor, . . .) against the rock that is Christ, the vivid metaphor that again he owes to the psalms. Originally this referred to the Babylonian babies dashed on the rocks so that they might not grow up to become oppressors as their fathers had been. In New Testament understanding that rock becomes Christ (I Cor 10:4). I remind myself of the body of Christ laid at birth on the living rock of a trough in the stable at Bethlehem, or in his hour of death laid in the living rock of the tomb, and I know that here I have been given a powerful image of Christ as the rock whose life-giving powers I need. So as soon as wrongful thoughts come into my mind, I smash them against this Christ-rock and thus prevent them from developing and taking root.

Response