How to Approach Our Work and Our Personal Lives Now That Things Are Far From Normal

In case you haven't noticed, things are far from normal these days. I dare say that applies to the vast majority if not all of us. 

We finished our first round of posts focused on the Rule of St. Benedict, beginning at the very beginning of the Rule. We learned a lot about our revered saint's views towards how to live for God and sanctify our lives. He covered the basic attitudes and approach a man who desires to live for God needs to establish a sound foundation. From that solid groundwork, the Rule continues with valuable insights and observations, as well as specific direction to guide us each day in our work and in our relationships with others with whom we work and live. We're planning to circle back to St. Benedict's Rule to pick up where we left off.

The timing of this concentration on the Holy Rule of St. Benedict is based on the fact that things are far from normal. While some of us forge ahead with blinders on despite the C-Virus Mess that descended on us in March 2020, let's not kid ourselves. The blinders may be helpful as we move from task to task each day. They may help us to put forth our best efforts and complete our work on time. That's a good thing. But even as we fulfill our duties and meet our obligations, at the end of the day we're all living in a world which, at this point, seems to be going mad - and getting madder by the minute.

With our civil and religious leaders walking arm in arm, we're being subjected to ever-increasing mandates and measures that can only be described as disruptive and oppressive. In recent months, such mandates and measures have reached the point where basic liberties we have enjoyed since the founding of our country have been abridged or even eliminated, including: freedom of speech, and other forms of expression, unrestricted movement within and outside not only our national borders, but in some cases, our local neighborhoods. A draconian tyrannical imposition of lockdowns, isolation, and, in the extreme case of Australia, what can only be described as imprisonment without due process of law. This may not be our lot in life; but is there any reason to believe it might not be at some point?

Into the midst of this, we who labor for our livelihood have been unceremoniously thrust. Some of us have already lost our livelihoods, dating back to March 2020. Many of those who kept their jobs have been forced to completely revamp their way of doing business. Still others, who have managed to survive and even thrive in the shift to working from home now face being forced back to the office. And many if not most of these will be fired if they don't kowtow to demands that they submit to injections of experimental substances. Such substances, if they can even be called "vaccines," have been shown to cause illness, even death, in numbers exceeding all previous vaccines put together on both an absolute and per capita basis.

What the hell is going on? 

We won't delve into any more detail here. It would take up too much time and space. And - let's hope - we already have at least some notion of not only our current state of affairs, but what to expect in the coming weeks and months. Suffice it to say efforts to push back do bring a glimmer of hope. But the powers that be and their minions aren't going to back off easily. So the rest of this year - at the very least - should prove to be even more challenging, even for those of us who have managed to keep our businesses running reasonably well to date.

And that, of course, is why we've turned to St. Benedict. He wrote his rule and founded his monasteries as the Roman Empire was collapsing around him. To be sure, the fall of Rome began decades, even centuries before his time. But in his time it's unraveling had accelerated. And, as it turned out, monasteries would serve as not only centers of religious life, but repositories of at least some of the cultural achievements that Roman civilization had to offer mankind. Indeed, monasteries would preserve the best parts of that civilization for posterity. They would serve as incubators for advancements in literature, music, theology, philosophy and science - to say nothing of craftsmanship, agriculture, animal husbandry, the art of wine-making,  beer-brewing, and various other adult beverages. 

All of this took place as the world surrounding them unraveled, leaving their surroundings less civilized, and thus more dangerous, as the general literacy and culture of many individuals became ruder and cruder. 

So there's a connection with our own time - perhaps not a mirror-image in every detail, but certainly so in terms of the unraveling of the existing order and the increasing intellectual deterioration and coarseness of manners.

A careful reading of St. Benedict reveals that his intended audience was every man. His monks ranged from the illiterate peasant to the sons of nobility. And, by his own estimation, the demands he made on them were not taxing. He promoted moderation to be sure the daily exercise of prayer and work would be accessible and achievable by all. All he required was the desire to advance in the spiritual life, ultimately to Heaven through their ordinary prayer and work.

In the midst of a world that would eventually be dubbed "The Dark Ages," his monasteries and the monks within would remain beacons of light, pointing the way, yes, to a revival of culture, but more so to eternal salvation for all who would seek it.

It is in that spirit that we turn to St. Benedict for a sane way to live in the far from normal world that we now face.

Rest assured we will be returning soon to his Holy Rule for more guidance to help us cope with a world that is far from normal.