Three Solid Recommendations by St. Benedict To Apply To The Workplace

The next entry in the Rule contains three solid recommendations we can apply to any workplace.

Let's start with the porter. A monastery needs a porter. Does your business?

What's a porter? That's a guy who greets visitors. Monasteries traditionally had a steady flow of such: those related to the business of the monastery, to those who would be guests for some period of time, to, simply, the poor. Visitors would come to the door, knock, and be greeted by a porter.

St. Benedict recommends an "wise old man" (senex sapiens) for the post. 

"...a wise old man who understands how to give and receive a message, and whose years will keep him from leaving his post."

Some businesses have something similar. Maybe not a porter, but sometimes a kind of ambassador. Here's an example of one such:

In a recent webinar I attended, one of the presenters was an older gentleman whose job, it seems, is to be the first guy to greet you if you are considering doing business with his firm. He wasn't the boss, just an employee. But his solid knowledge and pleasant personal manner might be just the greeting you'd need to stay a while. And you could sense that his knowledge and personal attractiveness would not distinguish between "big hitters" or small fry business owners (like me) who might need the services his company provides.

He seemed to have the sensitivity of a good porter:

"As soon as anyone knocks, or a poor man hails him, let him answer...Then let him attend to them promptly, with all the gentleness of the fear of God and with fervent charity."

I think we can see, too, that a good porter helps to keep order and thus peace in the monastery. Without him, visitors would present a distraction, catching the attention of whomever might be near the door when a visitor knocks. 

This entry ends with a further recommendation to keep the atmosphere of order and peace. Here we recall that the monastery functions best as a "closed society." Once the monk pledges his vow of obedience and stability, he'll pretty much live the rest of his days in the enclosure, separate from the outside world for all the many reasons we've seen in the course of our exploration of the Rule in recent months. With that in mind, the following will make perfect sense:

"The monastery should, if possible, be so arranged that all necessary things, such as water, mill, garden, and various crafts may be within the enclosure, so that the monks may to be compelled to wander outside it, for that is not at all expedient for their souls."

St Benedict adds one more item - a kind of rule for the Rule:

"We desire that this Rule be read aloud often in the community, so that no brother may excuse himself on the ground of obedience."

All three - the porter, the strict enclosure, the repetitious reading of the Rule, contribute to the successful monastery. Depending on our own business, we might derive something of value from one or more of these recommendations by St. Benedict.