Seeking God Quotes

“Stability says there must be no evasion; instead attend to the real, to the real necessity however uncomfortable that might be. Stability brings us from a feeling of alienation, perhaps from the escape into fantasy and daydreaming, into the state of reality. It will not allow us to evade the inner truth of whatever it is that we have to do, however dreary and boring and apparently unfruitful that may seem. It involves listening...to the particular demands of whatever this task and this moment in time is asking; no more and no less.”
― Esther De Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

“My difficulty is that on the whole I am not very good at change, I cling to the safe and the known... I must live in this moment, not looking either forward or back, or to right or left, but realizing that unless I am what I am there cannot be any growth. If I promise myself that life will be better, that I shall be a more agreeable person, that I shall be closer to God on the next stage along the way, then I am failing to live as I am called to live because I go on dreaming of that ideal which does not exist. The past has brought me to this moment and if I begin today anew I can also begin tomorrow anew and the day after that, and so I shall be truly open to change.”
― Esther de Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

“The Rule, in making distribution of goods according to needs, warns against the common pitfall that all should receive the same and instead asks for something which demands maturity and understanding on the part of the members of the community. 'We do not imply that there should be favoritism - God forbid! But rather consideration for weaknesses. Whoever needs less should thank God and not be distressed, but whoever needs more should feel humble because of his weakness, not self-important because of the kindness shown him. In this way all the members will be at peace.' Waning fair share is natural and it is only as I grow in maturity, recognizing my own strengths and weaknesses and accepting those of others, that I begin to make any headway in what St Benedict is talking about here.”
― Esther de Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict

“But so many people find themselves in a situation of enclosure, in a marriage or a career, with the fundamental difference that by their refusal to accept it it has become a trap from which they long to escape, perhaps by actually running away, perhaps by resorting to the daydreaming which begins with that insidious little phrase 'if only...' Family life which is boring, a marriage which has grown stale, an office job which has become deadening are only too familiar. Our difficulty lies in the way in which we fail to meet those demands with anything more than the mere grudging minimum which will never allow them to become creative.”
― Esther de Waal, Seeking God: The Way of St. Benedict