Saturday, September 10, 2005
Opinions
Today during morning prayer it occurred to me to share this blog with some friends. (Unlike the rest of you my mind tends to wander during prayer) Until now I have sent the link to few, ones I know I can trust, who won't judge me or be offended by some of the content. After prayer I started to think about opinions. Does it really matter what another's opinion is of me? Are my opinions that important? That kind of stuff.
I am a member of a "new monastic" community, The Lindisfarne Community (link to left). We have a daily office we pray and a community rule based on the rule of St. Benedict (except the Abbot and Abbess don't beat us) In the Understandings of the Community there is a statement that I love. "We see through a glass only darkly and know our understandings to be merely provisional. We hold our convictions (which are few) without wavering. But hold our opinions (which are many) lightly. Therefore there must be a great willingness to change--being slow to judge, never condemning, quick to acknowledge mistakes and move on. There is yet more light and truth for us to become aware of, to assimilate and so be transformed" P.21 A Way of Living The Lindisfarne Community.
Sometimes my opinions are way too important to me, getting me into trouble. I would do well to learn to hold them lightly.
For more info on the community click on the link to the left. We are scattered all over the globe, so it is not monastic in the traditional sense of living and working together. We seek to live a life of prayer meditation service and study amidst our busy family and work lives to find Christ in the heart of the 21st century life the breaking down of the sacred and the secular. (from the preface to A way of Living)
I am a member of a "new monastic" community, The Lindisfarne Community (link to left). We have a daily office we pray and a community rule based on the rule of St. Benedict (except the Abbot and Abbess don't beat us) In the Understandings of the Community there is a statement that I love. "We see through a glass only darkly and know our understandings to be merely provisional. We hold our convictions (which are few) without wavering. But hold our opinions (which are many) lightly. Therefore there must be a great willingness to change--being slow to judge, never condemning, quick to acknowledge mistakes and move on. There is yet more light and truth for us to become aware of, to assimilate and so be transformed" P.21 A Way of Living The Lindisfarne Community.
Sometimes my opinions are way too important to me, getting me into trouble. I would do well to learn to hold them lightly.
For more info on the community click on the link to the left. We are scattered all over the globe, so it is not monastic in the traditional sense of living and working together. We seek to live a life of prayer meditation service and study amidst our busy family and work lives to find Christ in the heart of the 21st century life the breaking down of the sacred and the secular. (from the preface to A way of Living)
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