Three Levels of Good Things
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Today is the Feast of St Benedict.
As a young man he moved to Rome around the year 500 to further his education. There he observed that the lives of the people around him were totally out of control, they were fearful, they were angry, and they lacked a sense of purpose and deep friendship. Most of all they were not happy.
Benedict wanted more for himself, so he left Rome and settled in Subiaco to live a life of work and prayer. Many were attracted by his peace which was the fruit of living a well ordered and balanced life. But they needed someone who could give them some structure and guidance for their lives. They asked if they could join him, and Benedict built twelve small communities in the valley of Subiaco. He then formed a simple way of life that he called a “Rule of Life” to help them achieve what all people want: Peace and Happiness. Do you desire a simpler way to go about life to be happy?
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St. Benedict realized to be happy and at peace we need a hierarchy of good things – actually - three levels of good things:
1. The Divine Good – Union with God, sharing in His Life by means of the sacraments, prayer and the practice of virtue.
2. Profound Goods:
a. Physical goods (food, shelter, health, safety, security, exercise, rest)
b. Psychological well-being
i. Order and stability
ii. Variety / Uncertainty, opportunity for change and growth
c. Friendship with family and friends
d. Knowledge – truth
e. Achievement / Meaningful Work / a way that we make the world a better place
f. Beauty – which is very different from entertainment
3. Superficial or Instrumental goods – These are just a means to an end and not an end in themselves – like books –
a. Books are good, but only as a means to knowledge or beauty or achievement.
b. Protein and carbs and fats as a means to nutrition…my main food groups are coffee and butter, oh yea and bacon…
c. Money, and a good reputation
d. Again the superficial goods are just a means to higher goods
We need all of these, but we must keep them in order.
· Love the lesser things less; Love the greater things more; Virtue is rightly ordered love
· C.S. Lewis: “put first things first and we get the second things thrown in; put second things first and we lose both first and second things.”
4. St Benedict created a really useful tool to get the good things we need to be happy – as I said, he called it a “Rule of Life.”
A Rule of Life is a schedule, a strategy, a recipe – whatever you want to call it to live a well ordered and balanced life and be at peace.
1. Physical Needs
a. Sleep 6-8 hrs/day
b. Personal hygiene 30 min to an hour each day
c. Eat 2 hrs/day
d. Exercise 30 min 3-5 days/week plus the commute to gym if necessary = 1hr
2. Friendship with Christ
a. 30 min/day in Meditation/Rosary
b. Frequent the Eucharist and Reconciliation
3. Time for Friendship with your spouse, kids, friends
a. 1-2 hours each day
4. Meaningful Work 8 hrs/day
a. In the home or out
b. 1 hour for your commute
5. Knowledge - Learn about what interests you
6. Experience beauty in its many forms
That’s about 23 hours – you can have all that each day with an hour to spare.
Be creative in combining two or more of these at one time (walking and talking with a spouse or friend at sunset gets your friendship, exercise and beauty).
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Our Problem is that we have
· Too much of some ingredients
· Too little of others
· And in some instances - the wrong ingredients – harmful or at least unfulfilling ingredients
Here is where we must examine our life honestly:
· Do I have the right ingredients in my life?
· Do I have the right priorities? Do I put first things first; and second things second? God is first and everything else is second.
· Do I make enough time for a deep friendship with God through daily meditation, frequent reception of the Eucharist and Reconciliation?
· Am I going to bed on time or wasting the last hour of my night?
· Do I exercise regularly?
· Do I have meaningful work? Am I working too much or too little?
· Am I giving enough time to the essential relationships in my life?
· Am I pursuing truth, knowledge, a better understanding of God, my faith, the world…?
· Am I delighting in beauty through nature, people, books, music… or do I waste time in entertainment? Beauty leads us to a greater contact with reality and hence with God. Entertainment on the other hand offers an escape from reality because it is a distortion of reality – an alternative to reality.
· Do I have wrong ingredients in my life - those that will spoil the recipe?
· Then there are things that should just never go in any recipe – like rat poison. What is the rat poison in your life - things like addictions, anger, gossip, lack of gratitude, lust…
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For most of us, this process of living well of getting our priorities right and living according to those priorities begins by getting rid of things that don’t belong there.
This is where Jesus said: If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better to enter heaven with one hand than to go into hell with two. If your right eye causes you to sin it is better to pluck it out. It is better to enter heaven with one eye than go to hell with two.
We all have sinful habits. Things that we habitually think, say or do that are ruining our happiness – ruining our recipe.
Identify those sinful habits, routines, triggers or occasions that lead us into the sin. It’s not enough to get the weeds – we’ve got to get the roots as well.
As a Resolution:
Identify 2-3 concrete and realistic things you will commit to change.
Then create a Rule of Life and share it with your spouse or a friend, so that they won’t inadvertently work against you, and they can help you.
To be set free from all the temptations and evil that prevents us from living a happy and peaceful life let’s end with the prayer of St. Benedict found on the back of the St. Benedict medal “Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities! What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!”