religiocity

Posted on: July 15th, 2010 Enlightenment

From Joan Chittister’s The Rule of St. Benedict:

The ancients say that once upon a time a disciple asked the elder, “Holy One, is there anything I can do to make myself Enlightened?”

And the Holy One answered, “As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning.”

“Then of what use,” the surprised disciple asked, “are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?”

“To make sure,” the elder said, “that you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise.”

There is so much in this little story to notice:

1. the importance of awareness in the spiritual life.

2. the miraculous nature of the rising of the sun.

3. the ways of grace: how all we can do is to “stack the deck” in favor of some kind of inner gift of the experience of God.