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RB 63 Community Rank

Or as one of the community prefers to translate, Community Order. This chapter of RB repays careful study. The portion we read today must have seemed extremely radical in the sixth century: deciding community rank according to the simplest means, the order in which we came though the door, overturns any covert expectations of preferential treatment because of personal or family distinctions. Even age is no guarantee of precedence, although Benedict elsewhere indicates that the old and the young are to receive especially tender treatment. We all find humility attractive in others; required of ourselves it can be trickier. But Benedict is no egalitarian. He gives two reasons for amending the way in which community order is established: the goodness of our lives or the abbot's decision (which, as he says, must never be an arbitrary act of authority: the abbot will have to account for his judgements). What we have in this chapter is a finely nuanced attempt to remove some of the major causes of friction that can arise in any body of people. It is not those who are leaders or managers or heads of departments that we have trouble with (which is not to say we are necessarily unquestioning, but their right to lead, manage and head is generally acknowledged), it is those who are on the same level as ourselves, so to say, who are more challenging. All those little jostlings for precedence, for ensuring our opinion triumphs, are a waste of time and energy and lead to a weakening of the body as a whole. RB 63 is a good reality check on the health of our relationships at home and at work. As we shall see, mutual respect is at the heart of Benedict's teaching. Respect! Scroll down to comment.