Jan 29 - Perseverance And Listening

Our God will come and will not keep silence; *
before him there is a consuming flame,
and round about him a raging storm.
Psalm 50:3

...we must be vigilant every hour…
Benedict's Rule 7:29 (Chittister, Pg. 83)

It is not perfection that leads us to God; it is perseverance.
Chittister, Pg. 83

Persistence I have, and it provides hope that I can grow closer to God; Perfection will not happen in this life. I am glad of persistence. I need the second, third, fourth, … one-hundred and eighty-ninth chance. Continuing takes persistence. While I am trying and trying again I am also glad God does not keep silence. God is not silent. While I only hear (or expect to hear) God's voice on rare occasions I have heard it. Much more often I hear (and see) God not directly but in actions that involve God: Prayers answered, well lived lives that reflect God, active natural events, pleasant days... I hear God even more directly in God's echoes in scripture and spiritual conversations with others.

A Note To Anyone Reading:

This entry is part of a series that is developing as I read The Rule of Benedict, A Spirituality for the 21st Century, Joan Chittister, OSB, Crossroads, 2010. I am offering this both to those at St. George's Episcopal Church, Arlington VA, that may be reading this book and to anyone that is interested.

Unless stated otherwise quotes from St. Benedict's Rule are from the translation in this same book.
Psalms are from The Book of Common Prayer, The Episcopal Church, 1979 unless otherwise noted.

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