Finding Sanctuary

A perceptive friend bought me a copy of Abbot Christopher Jamison's book Finding Sanctuary: Monastic steps for Everyday Life as a Christmas gift.  This is, and isn't, 'the book' of the BBC TV programmes The Monastary and The Big Silence.   

The appeal of the book for me is in the way that it demonstrates the ability of ancient Christian traditions - in this case the 'Rule' (a set of practical guidelines, or 'disciplines') written by Benedict 1,500 years ago for communities of monks - to offer an antidote to what the book calls the 'busyness' of everyday life.  Whilst this antidote is accessible, it is not just another consumer product, Jamison writes:

You cannot mistreat people one moment and then find sanctuary the next.  Finding the sacred space begins with the recognition of the sacred in your daily living.

In the world of this blog this is 'heaven in ordinary' - finding the spiritual in the everyday.  In other words, the benefits of religion can't easily be divorced from the practical discipline of actually living it. One of the pieces of practical advice in achieving this which particularly resonated with me, given by Benedict in the Rule and quoted in the book, is:

You are not to act in anger or nurse a grudge.  Rid your heart of all deceit.  Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when somebody needs your love.  Bind yourself to no oath lest it prove false, but speak the truth with heart and tongue.