SEEK
Seeking his workman in a multitude of people, the Lord calls out to him and lifts his voice again: Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days? What, dear brothers, is more delightful than the voice of the Lord calling to us?
Rule of St Benedict, Prologue
For many people their first contact with Benedictine Spirituality is through Esther De Waal’s book, Seeking God. Her title highlights one of the defining characteristics of St Benedict’s Rule. The monastic embarks upon a journey where every action, great or small, is a search for the God who called them into being.
This deep desire to search for God is something which God has planted within each one of us. For St Benedict this search and longing is a response to God who has sought us first. In the Prologue to his Rule, St Benedict uses the imagery of the Lord searching for his workers in the marketplace. I love this imagery.
Sr Aquinata osb comments that the Lord attracts his workers with a question:
I might suppose he asks if someone has good capacities and wants to work hard in his vineyard. So I am surprised at Christ’s question: Who is there who longs for life and desires to see good days? This is very enlightening. God seeks not my achievement, not even my service. No, what God seeks is my person, desiring that I have life, which corresponds to my heart’s desire.
From the outset the Rule of St Benedict is relational. God seeks us out, desiring that we have life. Part of the monastic’s journey is learning to hear that voice and then to take the next step in search of God.
What sense do you have of God having searched for you and called out to you in the market place of your life?
How have you responded?
Photo by Renate Vanaga on Unsplash