BBC 1: Longing - Quote

I think one of the ways I will structure our BBC is to make (at least) two posts per week. The first will introduce the topic by way of the epigraph from The Rule of Benedict that begins every chapter. The second post will be a quotation that in some way summarizes the thrust of the chapter or is provocative of discussion/reaction.

Describing the longing and the challenge of realizing it, Benson writes:

"The world is not a simple place. It never really was. But it is clear that with the noise and the pace and the demands of life in the information age - if that is still the name for the age in which we are living - the struggle to balance all of those things becomes more and more difficult, and more and more necessary.

"We are asked by the communities of which we are a part - our families, our neighborhoods, our churches, and all the rest - to do more, not less. In the places where we work, we are asked to be more productive, more efficient, to work longer and harder. We are seldom encouraged to rest and we are seldom asked to slow down.

"We are bombarded by information and noise, and we are conflicted by our priorities and our choices and our time constraints. We are given lots of power tools - faxes and computers and telephones and automobiles - and yet we still have only the one mind and the one heart and the one spirit. We have only a certain amount of strength and a finite number of hours in the day and these two hands.

"How then to wrestle with all of these things, how then to wrestle our way into a life of good days that will yield up some sense of the life for which we yearn? How then to balance all of these competing voices and demands and tensions - some of them good, some of them not so good, and some of them simply omnipresent - with our longing to be with God?

"In a world that keeps asking us to go higher and faster, how do we begin to go deeper, into the place where God lives and moves and has his being within us?" (5)

Comments

[Amy]

I really like this book so far. It caught my attention even more when I saw that he uses quotations from Annie Dillard, who is one of my favorite authors right now. When she says, "how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives" (7), I feel like it really sums up a lot of what I have seen in Benson's book so far, and a lot of what I like from Dillard. We live our lives in search of good days, but the good days are right in front of us if we look at them correctly.

When he says he is trying to turn his longing for the presence of God into something more like "being aware of the presence of God in all things" (13) -- this is where I felt a kind of stronger connection with the quotations you included above. It also reminds me of Annie Dillard's constant emphasis on "paying attention." I think if we could just instill in ourselves the habit of paying attention in life, Benson's hope of having God "live and move and have his being within us" might become more natural?

Anyway, thanks for making these posts about the book -- I am enjoying reading and discussing it with friends.

[Chad Jolly]

"We are bombarded by information and noise, and we are conflicted by our priorities and our choices and our time constraints. We are given lots of power tools - faxes and computers and telephones and automobiles - and yet we still have only the one mind and the one heart and the one spirit. We have only a certain amount of strength and a finite number of hours in the day and these two hands."

Benson reminds me that there is no social encouragement for work/rest/prayer/community to find the right space in our lives. It is probably good for us to acknowledge the part we play in creating what appears to be an "unsustainable" way of life our ourselves and others. Like many, I make myself available to colleagues and clients 24/7 and fuel expectations that every e-mail deserves an immediate reply, every itch needs to be scratched.

It strikes me that we have fewer shared rhythms as a people than ever before. Concepts like the "9-5 job" and "office hours" are going or gone. The natural boundaries implicit in words like "the weekend" and "vacation" or "sick days" are changing and seem more porous (I am doing all I can to resist looking at that e-mail that just popped up).

We seem to welcome this on some level. I am seduced by what seems to be a sense relief from the monotony of routine and I think I believe I am now more free because I can do what I want when I want. We like it, but too many of us are probably are walking around with anxiety over the chronic feeling that something in our life is always getting the the short end of the stick.

Benson (and Benedict) remind me of what I know - the rhythm of my life is often unsustainable. Prone to major crashes and unwanted problems. They are suggesting there is something better and more productive in the long run. More importantly, a way that brings more of what God intended.

How do we begin to wrestle our way into the good life?

[Matt]

Tim, I enjoyed your comment on the introduction post about how Work and Community we often find easy, but struggle with Prayer and Rest. I couldn't agree more. I would be interested to hear what you guys think these elements look like. I know it seems like a no-brainer, but I keep asking myself what do these elements truly look like? What do they look like in my life? Granted, I realize it varies greatly, but I think maybe I miss the mark sometimes. I think I really struggle with the idea of rest and what, true rest looks like.

Chad, I love you comment on "I think I believe I am now more free because I can do what I want when I want." Its amazing how we think we're so free, but in reality just burdened with anxiety. I think technology can be a ball and chain sometimes, our own prison.

[Tim Keel]

Glad to have you, Amy!

Hey Matt - good questions, and something that Benson addresses as we move more deeply into the book. He will tackle each of these topics in its own chapter. The introduction is "Longing." Then he follows the call to something deeper that the longing chapter speaks to and animates it with the following chapters: "Pray," "Community," Work," and "Rest." Not necessarily in that order, by the way.

I also resonate with that comment, Chad. It makes me think of Psalm 16, where David writes, "Lord, you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure. The boundary linesm have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance" (5-6). The idea that we would be assigned something and simultaneously be content is hard imagine when we always clamor for more. Nevertheless we have limits. I wonder what it would be like to be able to say with David that the boundary lines have fallen for us in pleasant places?

[Annie]

Hi Tim,

These comments are great. I'll just add a quick thought. For me, thinking in terms of time, days and how we use them is really convicting. I think I, (like most of you, it sounds) struggle to find a balance between "taking back" my time for God, and still being selfless or present and available to my community. I find myself fighting this urge to rebel and do less as a reaction to being pressured to do more. I know there is some balance in there to be found. It reminds me of the verse in Colossians that says we have died, and our life is now hidden away in Christ. I may need to hide away for a bit and try to find that balance...