Swept Away

My call by God led me to become a Benedictine Oblate. It has been 12 years, including postulancy. Sometimes I feel as if I must abandon myself to Christ in the spirit and life, to go down the path of the Way and meet God on the mountains he's offered me, by grace.

Swami Abishiktananda was swept away by God. As is said on the back cover of the book, "The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda: The Cave of the Heart,"

"This is the moving account of the extraordinary life of the French Benedictine and Indian sannyasi, Henri Le Saus/Swami Abhishktananda, whose search for the Absolute carried him beyond the boundaries of established religion."

As Father Henri Le Saus writes in a letter:

"You are free, instead of being jammed together in trains or buses. There are enchanting solitudes and wonderful times of silence. Think of it, no noise of engines, no motor-horns, no trains, no radios or loudspeaders, etc. The solitude of Shantivanam is nothing compared to it. You cross hills and valleys, climbing up and down. Sometimes you follow beside a river, one of the streams which join up to form the Ganges, along a narrow valley beside the swift torrent...sheer cliffs on either side, maybe 500-1000 metres high. Then with the Ganges, you descend towards the plain. The Himalayas open up, hills are less high, the Ganges spreads out, divides up and enters the plain to make it fertile."

From the book, The Life of Swami Abhishiktananda: The Cave of the Heart, by Shirley du Boulay, published by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, New York, p. 171.


Christ was swept away by God. (See the quote below.)

It is a powerful and awesome thing to be caught in the hands of the great God of our Bible. Mary was swept away, by obedience. I think to myself and say in prayer that I dare to think of being swept away. These can be powerful calls for any of us. But Christ's call was awesomely special, as is noted in his mountain experience by the writer Brother Ramon SSF in the book, "The Prayer Mountain."

"Many things were happening on the mountain of transfiguration, but as the Collect reminded us, the shadow of the Cross had fallen across Jesus' path. After his baptism, driven in the wilderness, he had rejected the worldly and ambitious ploys to gain power or win favour. It had become clear to him that his path was that of Messiah for Israel, then the very word had to be emptied of its military and nationalistic accretions. He had already understood that such a Messiah would tread the path of suffering, and in some mysterious way that suffering would be redemptive. This was the basic impulse that drew him towards Tabor."


Prologue of the great Text of The Rule
by Peter Menkin (2001)

Savoring the words of meaning
in The Rule is an offering
for understanding
"...let us open
our eyes to the light..."
and come to know language--arise from a sleep
--to listen.

Saint Benedict!
Awakening heart and mind, in His goodness
stirring the fear of God, King, Christ the Lord
through the words of "...this message of mine..."
notes the sloth
of disobedience is in us. Calls to ears that listen
"Run while you have the light..."
inviting all to the voice of the Lord;
call delightful, what is more?


Recently, I learned through my agent Kelly Morris in Ohio, that two print publications will print poems of mine in Fall, 2007: Ruah: A Journal of Spiritual Poetry will print, "Poetic Recitation on The Rule of St. Benedict," Western Quarterly will print a poem (can't remember the title), and the web site Sacred Journey has a poem posted. I am pleased to be noticed.

Fourth of July Evening
by Peter Menkin

The expectation of summer
in July before the Fourth:
an electric agitation;
public interlude to festive
hoop-la and preparations
to wave red, white, blue--
stars and bars--come next day
fireworks in the sky at dark
exploding after the picnic
day. Hurrahs! It's grand
celebrating the nation,
we parade.
Tomorrow we will. Tonight
there is the cool breeze
carrying us along.
An energetic convergance
arranging.
The nation roars.

Summertime Conversation in Friendship

What's this poem (?), but a conversation in summertime with experimental sentences and the idea of friendship. Yes, that's it. A poem that shows friendship, and says a little bit about conversation. I hope you find it amusing. I wrote it in 2001, and this is it from six years ago.

An admirer who read it admiringly on a poetry board then, wrote: "I admire how you mingle speech and the sharing relationship of conversation with natural elements within this piece, Peter. Surely a few more deep shades of green wouldn't hurt though?" I said I would help it along, but still no revise.



Summetime talk in color and sound...
by Peter Menkin

Speaking words that come out color,
visible
as in round circle of blue
like the clear Caribbean sea
this
summertime conversation
spoken against the clouded sky;
words about our lives
held together by sunset,
light
changing the green trees
ours
tall challenge at days end
during friendly conversations
dimensions
radiant orange enlarging
between a man and woman.
To blend with the white sky
we speak admitting mortality.

Book Review: The Rule of St. Benedict, by Kardong


The godliness of living a Gospel life when it comes to The Rule of St. Benedict, the nature of the author’s intentions and set of mind, the understandings of The Rule itself, are a few of the rewards one gets from Terrence G. Kardong’s, “Benedict’s Rule: A Translation and Commentary.” One thesis of Father Kardong’s is, “…the Rule teaches a dynamic spirituality.” A book for those interested in living a Gospel life, some areas touched upon by this book include, “progress and growth” in the religious and spiritual life, what’s referred to as ongoing conversion in the life of faith, and humility.

The book suggests looking towards continued reading of “…the teaching of the Bible and Fathers.” This last a recommendation of the Rule, and the book “Benedict’s Rule” an endorsement and recommendation of St. Benedict’s little book for beginners.

A reader interested in St. Benedict’s Rule will find this 600 plus page work, published by The Liturgical Press a scholarly work. It can be used as a text for reading, as in study, or as a reference work (so I think). The book speaks of St. Benedict’s sense of moderation, and his humility, an earmark of the book about the Rule itself, and a hallmark of the author who is a monk and priest.

Father Kardong writes at the very beginning of the book in a dedication that the work is, “To my brothers of Assumption Abbey who taught me how to be a monk and who freed me for the work of writing this commentary on the Rule of Benedict.” This is a book for monks in the monastery, and also for lay people and Oblates of St. Benedict. This is a book for church goers. This is a book for people who practice the work of God, the daily office.

One needs to have patience and perseverance to read it. One needs to take this book as it comes, not hurry it along, and in many places reread both the Rule as translated by Father Kardong, and his commentary. A retired Episcopal priest, who used to give retreats for the laity introducing The Rule of St. Benedict, suggested that I read the book without a sense of time or looking towards the end of it. He thought the work a book to be savored.

Father Kardong has many good thoughts and suggestions; certainly his commentary is beneficial for the interested reader. That is not a statement too obvious to be made, for this is a worthy book by a wise and educated monk.

I will find a good quote from Terrence G. Kardong’s writings, but first this description of the book from the preface by Father Kardong says he has produced “…a double-deck commentary with detailed philological material in notes and discursive material in the overviews.” This is his interpretation of the Rule. He notes that much is experiential. For me, this added merit to the book. His commentary is part of his life experience and work. An attribute that adds to the authenticity and authority of, “The Rule: A Translation and Commentary.”

The famous words of the Rule begin, “Listen, O my son, to the teachings of your master, and turn to them with the ear of your heart.” After all, the Rule is a religious book, and religion is for the heart. These words for the heart have been around 1,500 years. What is meant by these few words of the Rule is made commentary in another quotation: “Let us open our eyes…is a possible allusion to the Transfiguration, where the drowsy disciples are startled by the shining forth of Christ, and instructed by the voice from heaven (Luke 9:32).”

At a preached retreat in Big Sur, California USA, at Immaculate Heart Hermitage, Brother Bede explained that the Rule is a holy book, an illuminated work that keeps on giving, like the Bible. I remembered his instruction when approaching “Benedict’s Rule” and considered that the writer Father Kardong also approached it as such. This itself is an important point, for the work presented is exemplary.

In his commentary on the last part of the Rule, he writes, “…that observance of the Rule [Biblical theme of the Rule] itself is not enough; the Rule, like the Law, is to be ‘fulfilled.’” Though many believe the Rule is a way to perfection, and asks for that perfection, a serious consideration is that the Rule is also a book of love. Kardong believes it is mainly a book about love.

A major theme of the last chapter, love is described in the commentary: “…for the love that is preached in the penultimate chapter is essentially communal and public…selfless love for the other is a better way to end the Rule than the theme of ‘perfection.’”

It is the love in community; love for and of one another, the love that God offers and gives, that is central to living the Rule of St. Benedict. This alone is worth the price of admission. For as the monastery is a school for living, so the Rule offers a school for living the Gospel in ongoing conversion in one’s life. “The Rule of St. Benedict” is a book inspired by the Gospel and written by a great holy man, Benedict of Nursia (St. Benedict).

--Peter Menkin, Easter 2007


This review appears on the website Amazon.com.