Jan 30 - Not Our Own Will

Hear my prayer, O God; *
Give ear to the words of my mouth.
Psalm 54:2

…that we love not our own will nor take pleasure in the satisfaction of our desires…
Benedict's Rule 7:31 (Chittister, Pg. 83)

…I must accept the will of God, knowing that in it lies the fullness of life for me…
Chittister, Pg. 84

I ask God to hear my prayers, one of them being that I accept his will for me. I find this to be an ongoing prayer, one I repeat daily, so it seems. Even as I understand that I am broken and need to keep praying that I accept God's will, I still fall into comparing my inside feelings that I lack holiness, with the outside vision of how I think others are holy. And I keep falling into the trap of thinking if I have the outside trappings of those others my inside turmoil will lift. Can't I just let go and move on?

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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