Learning

During a break yesterday afternoon, I began reading the book, A Life Giving Way, a Commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict by Ester de Waal.  Here she writes, "The Christ who has appeared in different roles in the prologue now asks of me that I too play differing roles: that I am pupil, discipulus, the one who learns, as well as son and daughter, soldier, member of the household, one who follows the way."   

 

Jesus, of course, spoke Aramaic, not Latin, but de Waal's parsing of the word disciple as "one who learns" surprised me. I always have thought of disciple as one who follows, and certainly following (obedience) is an important aspect of the call, and obedience is one of the vows of the Benedictine life.  However, to follow without learning can create imbalance.  Without balance, there can be no stability. Without stability (also one of the vows), learning becomes difficult and our lives, both individual and communal, become stifled. We do need to remain open, learning as we go. Learning implies not only study, but also incorporating what we are learning into our lives as we move forward (conversatio morum or ongoing conversation). 

  

Benedict's intention was to "create a school for the Lord's service (Prologue 45)." In order to follow Christ, one must learn Christ.  However, Christ is just not to be studied, but lived.