Saturday 26 December 2009

Prostrate Yourself



I was struck by the reading from the Rule of Benedict yesterday, the rule states
Members sent on a journey will ask the prioress or abbot and the community to pray for them. All absent members should always be remembered at the closing prayer of the Opus Dei. When they come back from a journey, they should, on the very day of their return, lie face down on the floor of the oratory at the conclusion of each of the customary hours of the Opus Dei. They ask the prayers of all for their faults, in case they may have been caught off guard on the way by seeing some evil thing or hearing some idle talk.
It seems rather over the top, and emphasises the cosseted feel of the monastery. However, there is something appealing about it to me too. Seems releasing that others might pray for me and that I might acknowledge that I am adversely affected by unhelpful environments. One of my friends on Facebook put up a status update today, asking why she had bought way too much food, and that she always vows not too then always does at Christmas. I wanted to reply that clever advertising bods are paid a lot of money to do that to us. It emphasised to me the subliminal effect that our environment has on us.

All this made me wonder what the circumstances are that I am most likely to get sucked into worldviews that I don't like, and also made me wonder where I can metaphorically prostrate myself in front of others and ask for their prayers lest I have been caught off guard.

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