Sacramentality of the created order

The Rule: According to St. Benedict, created objects point to uncreated realities. Material objects point to spiritual reality. For this reason the tools with which people work are as sacred as the things used for the sacrament. This is why we should work with care, deliver good results, make things of beauty. Beauty in things points to beauty in spirituality. We should behave with stewardship of the things that have been entrusted to us.
Here & Now: Although often a strict line is made between the material world and its objects and the spiritual world of immateriality, also in much contemporary research this line is crossed. Many objects that people care for have a meaning for them beyond the physical appearance or utility. The meanings objects have for us (e.g. Rochberg-Halton, Csikszentmihalyi), the symbolic value of objects (e.g. Levy, Hirschmann, Holbrook) and the blurring of the sacred and the profane in consumption (e.g. Belk, Wallendorf, Sherry) are high-interest topics in literature nowadays.

Self-sufficiency and charity

The Rule: Benedict says that not everyone is equal. We are all human beings but people need different things. They should thus be given what they need, not just what everyone else, or some magic average person, needs. Furthermore, work and its results should lead to self-sufficiency. Any surplus (in produce, money , time, etc) should not be collected (profit) but should be used to give others what they need (charity).
Here & Now: The fact that Benedict has pointed to the inequality of people in terms of what they need and that they should be treated as individuals complies with Cornelis’ claims about the shift from a social ruling system (in which equality of everyone is the goal) towards communicative self-steering (in which the individual is the basis of everything). This shift can be recognized in theories on the shift from mass-production and –markets (equality) towards personalization, customization, co-creation and support (individualization).

Human relations

The Rule: Relations can cause pleasure or grief. There have to be enough people to do the available work calmly to avoid stress and murmuring. When someone finds himself doing nothing, he should find someone else to help to avoid ‘ozio’, idleness. The abbott is responsible for organising the available work in such a manner that there is no justification for grumbling or murmuring.
Here & Now: Many theories on how to organize work without harming the human being in any way or while motivating and supporting the human being, contain ideas that comply with Benedict’s ideas. The smaller focus on efficiency and larger focus on the calm way in which people can do all the work reminds me of Jaap Peters’ book ‘De Intensieve Menshouderij’ (intensive people breeding) and Schumacher’s classic ‘Small is Beautiful: Economics as if people mattered’. The responsibility of the abbott can be recognized in current managerial and leadership theories.

Interior attitudes

The Rule: Prior Padre Cassiano told us a story about a monk that had the responsibility for cooking. He was a great cook, but because of this he felt that he was special. The abbott placed him somewhere else in the abbey for this reason: take pride in your work and do it well but don’t feel special.
Here & Now: The supporting and serving attitude that is already required to be able to deliver services, is even more important when working with experience. When the individual human being is really at the centre of your thoughts and you are really looking for ways to support this person in what he can do, can be, can learn and can feel, you will have to step aside and give that individual the space he needs. The organization is not the core anymore, it’s the individual. Take pride in your work and do it well but don’t feel special: it’s the individual that makes the experience.

Paradise regained

The Rule: The goal of study and prayer is to understand the created world. This is the world we have created by our choices and actions and by understanding this world we can take responsibility.
Here & Now: Especially in a world in which organizations have so much influence on the lives of people, one should try to understand what we do and why and avoid the confusion of means and ends. These are also some of the points that Beck and Giddens make when writing about reflexive modernization.

In the discussion with Prior Padre Cassiano afterwards, he told us about how novices in the abbey are treated. The novice enters the abbey and the Benedictine life as a small plant that has to be helped and supported. When support is given in the right manner, the small plant becomes a big tree with deep and steady roots in the ground, preventing him to fall down when there is wind. Isn’t this the exact metaphor one could use for describing the supportive role in meaningful experiences?

Other

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