Rule of St Benedict Ch. 72 v11
You must do what the word tells you, and not just listen and deceive yourselves. But the person who looks steadily at the perfect law of freedom and makes that their habit – not listening and then forgetting, but actively putting it into practice – will be happy in all that they do. James 1: 22-25
During a chance watching of BBC Breakfast TV recently I heard a new word; nomophobia. At the time I could only hazard a guess as to its meaning. I know ‘phobia’ has to do with an irrational fear of or aversion to something and given the word was used in the context of a discussion about mobile phones it didn’t call for a great stretch of my imagination to work out ‘nomob’, probably, referred to no mobile. Later, and with the help of an online dictionary – no surprise not Oxford Dictionary – I came up with this meaning: Nomophobia, a noun, defined as extreme fear of being without your phone; it’s a combination of the words no, mobile and phobia. Example: The anxiety some people feel when they cannot get a signal from their phone, run out of battery or forget to take their phone. Recognise any of these feelings? Some people also reported finding themselves putting their hand into their bag, or pocket, for their phone to ring it to find out where they had left their phone! Whilst I don’t, at least I hope I don’t, suffer from nomophobia, I know I don’t like being phone-less. Cue to introduce more silence into my life!
A study sampled 2,1623 people and found about 58% of men and 47% of women suffer from this phobia, and an additional 9% feel stressed when their mobile is turned off. One survey carried out in U.S. came up with various statistics like this one: ‘One in five people admitted they would rather go without shoes for a week than take a break from their phone. (A good way to lose your sole, and your soul!).
So why, you might very well ask, all this talk about mobile phones during my November reflection? Why not share thoughts on the Solemnities of All Saints or All Souls look at some of the other feast days? I Agree. Far more appropriate. Yet, in prayer, the Spirit led me along this path. The key, I think, is what rules our lives. In her book ‘Reaching for God: The Benedictine Oblate Way of Life’ Roberta Warner OSB puts it this way: “When we live in a “throw-away” culture such as ours; when the new “toy” we bought is suggested to be obsolete just weeks after our purchase; when the new fad for healing and the new self-help books disappoint; when we look for something that has proved itself to be stable enough to depend on for the long haul, we can trust Benedictine Spirituality. Saint Benedict knew human nature. He lived in a time of great upheaval, unrest, spiritual dissolution. He found the answer to a meaningful life through Scripture, prayer, and specific life values and practices.”
In his book ‘Strangers to the City’ Michael Casey OCSO reminds us how Benedict advises his monks “to make themselves strangers to the actions of the age. ….This is done first by living somewhat apart, morally rather than physically. The purpose of this “separation from the world” is to facilitate a distinctive lifestyle, based on distinctive premises and priorities”.
At the end of this month, Sunday 27th to be exact, we have the First Sunday of Advent 2016. A time of waiting, pondering and preparing for the birth of the Christ Child. A time to search our hearts to see where, if at all, we have allowed the values held dear in society to get in the way of our call ‘to prefer absolutely nothing to Christ’. Interestingly, Terence G. Kardong OSB in his ‘Translation and Commentary Benedict’s Rule’ points out that this is a verbatim quote of Cyprian and that the rest of his statement is worth noting, “for He has preferred nothing to us.” Good point to close on.
You sought to start a simple school of prayer,
A modest, gentle, moderate attempt,
With nothing made too harsh or hard to bear,
No treating or retreating with contempt,
A little rule, a small obedience
That sets aside, and tills the chosen ground,
Fruitful humility, chosen innocence,
A binding by which freedom might be found
You call us all to live, and see good days,
Centre in Christ and enter in his peace,
To seek his Way amidst our many ways,
Find blessedness in blessing, peace in praise,
To clear and keep for Love a sacred space
That we might be beginners in God’s grace.
by Malcolm Guite
Eileen Dutt
International oblate coordinator
Benedictine Oblates of WCCM
