December 2021 – Notes from Bambi

Voting for change

Dear Benedict,

The world keeps on changing. In 1984 when I first visited South Africa, I could not have known that it would be the last decade for Apartheid, or that I’d be back in 1994 to see the first democratic elections take place. I mention it because Archbishop Desmond Tutu has died, aged 90.

I might have mentioned before that I’m not very good with the great men and that I find the leadership sections of your Rule problematic at times. It’s always good to celebrate an exception. The Arch, as he was called, was one of those rare exceptions for me, and he seems relevant to the rest of chapter 64 of your Rule.

A monument to world leaders made of recycled material for COP26, in Stockport.

When I arrived in south Africa in 1984 all I knew about Apartheid was that we didn’t eat their apples. By the time I left a month later I’d learnt a whole lot more. I’d read about Black Liberation Theology, I’d seen the signs of racial segregation all around me and I’d heard about Desmond Tutu. I was to continue my education both in South Africa and the UK for the next ten years at least. I read the Kairos Document, I listened to people of all races and eventually I went back and learnt about contextual bible study (CBS) at the University of Kwa Zulu Natal in 1994.

One of the books I read in South Africa in the 1980s

These things became foundations for my ministry. Later I followed the work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In all of this the face of Tutu was often seen weeping or laughing and much in between. The world recognised him for the ‘goodness in life and wisdom in teaching’ that chapter 64 of your Rule recommends in a leader.

Not every leader can be a Tutu, but to aim for ‘love not fear’ seems to be the bottom line.

From my Remembered Tutu: ‘Every human person is a stand in for God’ (Desmond Tutu).

Go well, Arch.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Talented

Dear Benedict

Like me, you use a remembered bible. At the end of chapter 64 of your Rule you refer to a verse: Matthew 24:47 ‘God will put this one in charge of everything’.

When I looked in a printed bible for the context I saw it was part of a small story about ‘a wise and faithful slave’ who was expected to ‘oversee the other slaves of the household’. Now you must understand that we read slavery differently to the way in which it was read in 6th century Europe. Too much of history has been about the exploitation of some human beings by others in systems called slavery, none of them as benign as these few verses suggest. No master had an good business owning slaves. That slavery was part of the Roman Empire and other administrations in the ancient world such that bible writers thought it acceptable to mention this, is not a reason to be uncritical of it now.

In similar ways your Rule has been subject to criticism for its treatment of children, even though physical punishment of children would have been commonplace in your day. Unfortunately cruelty towards children is still too common in our day and age for us to make such excuses.

If there’s one thing I expect from life in Christian Community, it’s being radical. I do not expect Christian communities to uphold unfairness or endorse cultural inequalities just because they are there, and I also expect them to seed this radicality into the systems and institutions that surround them.

O root of Jesse: some radical vegetables

Last night, on British TV, a Deaf woman won a major reality TV show, one that attracts millions of viewers each week. It’s a dance show. I’ve never seen it, but it’s glamorous and glitzy. Someone the public knows and loves is offered up as a trainee dancer and dancers with a professional dance partner doing a new dance each week. This time round several taboos were broken. In the final, one couple were a same sex pair of men dancing together and in the second couple one participant was Deaf.

So you see what I mean about the need for Christian communities to sow radicality. Why was two men dancing together ever thought unreasonable? Why had there not previously been a Deaf participant?

It seems that both of these sets of dancers has challenged the British public in new ways. The numbers of would be dancers who want to dance in same sex couples at local dancing schools and clubs has increased as has the number of people interested in learning British Sign Language (BSL).

BSL is the language of the British Deaf Community. I can only use a few simplified bits of it, but I do believe it should be taught in all British schools. That would be radical and it would break down a lot of barriers for British Deaf people. The Christian community would be a good place to start this radicalisation.

Would I change history? You bet. One dance partner at a time if necessary. But more than that, the community I’m interested in is radically inclusive. In that community anyone can dance.

From the remembered bible: That One comes on a day when not expected and at an hour no one knows.

O Root of Jesse, make me radically ready.

From a Friend of Scholastic and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Peace

Dear Benedict,

I’ve been interested to read how your Rule first came to Britain. It is thought to have been bought here at the end of the 6th century by Augustine of Canterbury. I find this interesting because some call Augustine’s mission the ‘Christianising’ of England, which is clearly wrong. It might have been a further wave of Christian missionary activity, but it wasn’t the first. In fact the names of the first Christians in Britain are unknown to us, just as you might expect.

Remains of an Anglo-Saxon cross shaft at Nunburnholme, Yorkshire.

So it’s possible that your Rule was bought here by someone else, but Augustine got the credit. It seems that he wanted religious houses in England to use the Rule and it was promoted for men and women to use in monastic communities. I’ve been reading a sample of a book concerning the activities of Benedictine Women during the Middle Ages. Product of a great deal of scholarship I’ve only read the sample but it is fascinating. The author, Katie Bugyis, has looked at many manuscripts from the Middle Ages to support her finding concerning the kind of ministries women were practising during that period.

The remain of St Pancras Church Canterbury, possibly the oldest part of the Augustinian Abbey.

I mention it in relation to chapter 65 of your Rule, another essential read about community leadership. Bugyis suggests that your Rule wasn’t fully adopted by women’s monastic houses in England until the 10th century, and that a feminised version was promoted to make it more applicable to these Abbeys. I’d love to see that.

Her main findings are about the sort of roles women had during this period: reading the Gospels liturgically, hearing confession and offering intercessory prayers are the ones she explores in detail. My heart was joyful: once again we find that women were doing these things and they have been forgotten or covered up or negated in some way. Of course my heart also sinks that power was abused in ways that robbed women of leadership roles then and now. It’s not something I am at peace about.

Statue of St Benedict wrapped up for protection at Stanbrooke Abbey, Wass, Yorkshire in 2016

Chapter 65 refers to the communal need for the ‘preservation of peace and love’ being the foundation of the way in which Abbott or Abbess shall lead the community. Unfortunately, those outside the walls were the ones to determine, too often, what some of those gender based activities might be, and such discrimination is still limiting some interpretations of the ministries of women.

As we approach the season of the Nativity, it’s a time to pray again for a wider understanding of ministry of women. I think of the times when women have ‘given up’ ministries for ‘the peace of the church’. Good thing Mary never gave up pushing for the incarnation.

From the remembered gospel: Jesus said: ‘It’s peace I leave with you, but it’s not like the world’s peace’.

Help me to keep pushing for justice.

From a Friend of Scholastica and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.

Ignorance

Dear Benedict

Most folks know how to open a door, you’d think. But seeing it as particularly important you dedicate chapter 66 of your Rule to this vital task. It’s not just any old door. It’s the door to the community, after all.

The door to Bromfield Gatehouse, Shropshire, which was one the gateway to a Benedictine community.

This week, walking in Suffolk, I saw lots of doors and I heard or read about others. The way we open our doors says a great deal about who we are and who we follow. I find it particularly interesting when the door officer (you call them Porter) charged with the initial hospitality of the community, are those who were previously welcomed in and who now slam similar doors in the faces of others. That’s not the Rule, and indeed there’s no excuse for ignorance, as you point out.

Door, from the beach at Aldeburgh, Suffolk.

Another thing that happened this week was the leader of the Lay Community said how much I reminded him of Frank Skinner. In fact he sent me a copy of Frank’s book .

Now Frank I and do have things in common. We both make jokes about Wolverhampton. But he supports West Brom and I support Spurs (in the nostalgic way one does remembering the glory days of the early 1960s). We also both pray and that’s what he writes about in his book.

He’s not the first comic from the Midlands I’ve been said to resemble. I was 18 when some other A Level students said I reminded them of Jasper Carrot (other comedians are available). I’ve always had an admiration for stand up and want to try it myself, up to a point. I do a brilliant one woman show that my husband is the one man audience for. But mostly I just keep walking.

Frank’s book reminded me of the many many ways we pray. I love Frank’s way of doing it. Some prayers are long and others are short but I think they are all honest. He says he prays like parking ‘You get as close as you can’. It’s a good aim; I’m not great at parking either. The book had me bubbling with laughter. I like to think God reacts to my prayers like that: the wordy ones with the wacky metaphors and the silent ones with the awesome views.

Prayer is a door thing. It’s about opening and for that we are each our own door opener, though one or more assistants may have been provided to get us started. Once we’re off it’s up to us. Like me, Frank uses a remembered bible. He returns to some bits more than once, like most remembered bible users, turning them over again, examining our own ignorance.

He considers the line ‘Hallowed be your name’ a few times. It is a puzzling one, well padded with ignorance. I look into the night sky and I’m humbled by all the names I don’t know. I imagine anyone who attempts any name for God in whatever circumstances scores at least a point for trying, even if it doesn’t seem so promising a start to the Prayer Police. Like Frank, the God I pray with is open to offers; friendship, love…

And so back to the door to the community. On the news a woman in Aberdeen gave a home to a family from Afghanistan. She opened the door and they went in. I wept and I’m sure many others did too. Of course there will be other people needing houses in Aberdeen. But this open door is just a start. Consider who you are and who you follow. Just open the flipping door.

From my remembered bible: I stand at the door…

Help me to open doors.

From A Friend of Scholastic and a Member of the Lay Community of St Benedict.