Mar 24 - Self Knowledge

My help comes from the Lord, *
the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 121:2

They do so until they [the abbot or prioress] give them blessing and say "Enough."
Benedict's Rule 44:10 (Chittister, Pg. 203)

This chapter forces us to ask, in an age without penances and in a culture totally given to individualism, what relationships we may be betraying by selfishness and what it would take to cure ourselves of the self-centeredness that requires the rest of the world to exist for our own convenience.
Chittister, Pg. 203

Am I the only one that sees my own self-centeredness? I expect not. But the reminder to ask the question of myself is needed. It is my experience that after being reminded that I am selfish, and noting the selfishness and self-centeredness, there is a gradual decrease in my awareness until the next reminder...

Lord help me not forget may fallibility and self-centeredness, and to keep a healthy respect for my failures. I further ask for balance in self-knowledge, that I also not forget what I do well and to your satisfaction...

A Note To Readers:

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.