Over at The Suburban Hermit is a post on the vow of obedience.
In the present world the suggestion of obedience is met with incomprehension. That one should submit one’s entire will to another individual is not only a social error, but an anti-social horror. Obedience is a blasphemy in a world of individual freedom, and yet all the wise ones tell us it is only through obedience that innocence is recovered and retained. Obedience can only be rediscovered through discipline and commitment. Therefore Benedict sets obedience as one of the three vows for his monks. In his chapter on receiving brethren he writes, “The one who is to be accepted into the community must promise in the presence of all; stability, conversion of life and obedience.”
Like all natural gifts, obedience has to be practiced to be made perfect. This perfection requires a structure, a good teacher, and hard work.
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