Yield

'The first word in St Benedict’s Rule is ‘Listen’,’ the Abbot says. It is the Mass celebrating the Feast of St Benedict. The Abbot is reaching the climax of his homily. ‘One of the most frequent words in the Rule is ‘obedience’. The original meaning of the word ‘obedience’, is hearing somebody, listening to somebody. I reckon that a lot of the troubles we meet in life arise from not listening carefully enough to one another, not paying attention to the way things are in reality. ?

‘You can only really hear somebody if you are silent yourself,’ the Abbot preaches. ‘You know how some people think they know you, yet never give you a chance to explain yourself. That’s how your enemies feel about you. To turn them from enemies into friends, you must surrender your own ideas and really listen to them. ?

‘Obedience may seem hard. Actually, once you make up your mind that you want to love, it becomes easy and enjoyable. And of course there’s a short-cut to that happiness, which is listening to God, obeying God. If you stop telling Him what you want, and start listening to what He wants, eternal life gets moving. ‘My child, accept my words’, says the book of Proverbs. ‘Treasure up my Commandments, make your ear attentive, incline your heart, search for understanding’.'

The Abbot scans our faces in the pews. Returns to his notes on the lectern. ?

‘The scriptures and St Benedict are not stupid. They know that sometimes the only thing we can do is to part company with someone we can’t deal with. If we have the ear of our heart inclined to God, to reality, we’ll know instinctively what to do in all circumstances. Otherwise we’ll never get it right.’ ?

The Abbot looks up. ?His head tilts in his gently reassuring way.

‘Benedict of Nursia,’ he concludes, ‘is not a bad guide for anyone who wants to be wise, gentle, peaceable, and willing to yield’.