Rector’s Reflections
Friday 26th April 2024
A Benedictine Approach to Well-Being
We have now reached the last in the current series. We have been looking at the Benedictine approach to Well-Being. We have seen that for Benedictines, the starting point is the worship of God: we need to come together as Christians to worship God, and to do so as regularly and frequently as possible. As well as worshipping together, we need to ensure that we are providing nourishment for our souls, by allocating a period of time every day for spiritual reading. And we also need to see the spiritual value in eating together: shared meals remind us that we are all part of a community, and they help us to connect with one another.
Benedictines would also add a fourth element to our Well-Being. We need to practice self-care. We’re going to benefit no-one if we don’t take proper care of our own physical, mental and emotional needs. In short, we need to look after ourselves, before we can look after others.
There are lots of different ways in which we can look after ourselves, but here are three particular practices which are important in the Benedictine tradition.
The first is that we need to allocate time everyday for some physical activity. It might be playing sport or going for a walk. Or it might simply be time spent doing a bit of gardening or cleaning. Benedictines have found that physical exercise is good for our spiritual health, as well as beneficial for bodily health.
Secondly, Benedictines are great believers in the value of sleep. We need to ensure that we are getting enough sleep. For Benedictines, this usually means going to bed fairly early. Benedictines traditionally finish the day with a short service of Night Prayer, called Compline, and then after this all work stops. The community winds down and goes to bed. Compline is typically scheduled for 8pm or so, so monks and nuns are asleep by 9pm. They then get up early, at say 6am, ready to start the day with the first service, at say 7am. The aim is to make sure that everyone gets enough sleep. I should add that before the Church reforms of the 1960s, many Benedictines got up at around Midnight or so, for a special service in the Church, before going back to bed: this meant that they still got plenty of sleep, but split it into two portions.
Finally, Benedictines are keen on not trying to do too much. We can sometimes feel obliged to try and achieve the impossible. Benedictines would say that we need to watch this tendency to overwork. All of us have our limits, and if we push ourselves too hard we will make ourselves ill. It’s all about practicing the great Benedictine virtue of Humility. I think this is also why Benedictines place so much emphasis on the value of moderation, even and perhaps especially in spiritual things. I think many of us try to do too much, often for the best of reasons. A Benedictine would probably advise us to do less, and trust God more. What’s the point in burning ourselves out or making ourselves ill?
Benedictines live life in the slow lane. You’ll still get to Heaven, whether you’re driving at 30 miles an hour or at 70 miles an hour. 70 miles an hour might be more exciting, but excitement can be overrated. We’ll see much more of the world around us travelling at 30 miles an hour, and we might even slow down to 20 miles an hour. And we’re also much less likely to be a danger to ourselves or to others.
This brings to an end the current series of reflections on Well-Being. I wonder what you make of the Benedictine approach? Do you find it helpful? What Benedictine insight might you seek to apply in your own life?