St. Benedict for bloggers

If you do any web-surfing around the so-called “blogosphere,” then you’re familiar with the kinds of things that prompted me to write this post. I’ve been an avid blog reader for almost 4 years now, and I’ve been blogging myself for since August of 2002. The bulk of my reading takes place on Catholic blogs -- “St. Blog’s Parish” as it has been dubbed. (Here's a different webring for St. Blog's...and another. Lots o' Catholic blogs out there.) Thankfully, my own blog has thus far managed to stay almost wholly unnoticed off in the corner of St. Blog’s, which I have to say suits me just fine. But the famous Catholic blogs, say Open Book or Catholic and Enjoying It (when Mark’s not on a book-writing hiatus, as he is now), have a very large readership, and both of them have comments boxes. And over the past few months, I have found that the comboxes of St. Blog’s have been slowly and surely sucking the life out of me.

Comments boxes are a nice idea in theory -- they allow people to respond to a post, perhaps share something on a related note, perhaps provide a link that’s relevant to the topic. Ideally, on the larger blogs they can function like a discussion board where people can share thoughts on a topic and engage each other in an adult, civil manner. Yeah, I see you smiling at that. I know why you’re smiling, too. It’s because more often than not, the comboxes on popular blogs grow into some weird juggernaut of arguing and name calling, judging and pontificating. Sometimes there’s very little that’s adult about the “discussions,” and even less that’s Christian.

I’ve been struggling with this lately because I’m finding that the tone of the combox discussions is bothering me far more than it should. I find myself getting irritated with people I’ve never even met, which is bizarre. And, as with anything in life that gets me agitated, inevitably my spiritual life and my prayer are affected, which is what makes this an important issue in the end. You may be asking, “If the experience is at times so off-putting, why do you keep reading these blogs, then?” The reason I like reading Catholic blogs is precisely because it’s like a kind of community. I don’t have too many people that I interact with in my daily life who enjoy discussing churchy topics -- Catholic teaching or spiritual reading or Church history or prayer. So I really do enjoy reading the handful of Catholic blogs that I visit on a daily basis; the people who write and comment there are kindred spirits in at least that sense. For the most part, the blog owners and writers themselves are well-informed, articulate, faithful, insightful writers with very valuable things to say. Some of them, Amy Welborn and Mark Shea included, are freelance writers, and they’re good at it. It’s not usually the bloggers but the commenters who drive me up a wall. This is, I suppose, the downside of any kind of community.

So what should I do? Should I read the main posts and just swear off the comments boxes? Drastically cut back on my blog reading altogether? Read blogs ever other day, interspersed with blog-free decompression days? I’ve considered all of the above, I assure you. I’m still mulling over all these possibilities, and I haven’t ruled anything out.

But in the meantime, as I’ve been turning all of this over in my mind, I’ve been thinking that St. Benedict has a lot of valuable things to say -- both for those of us who write the blogs (and comments) and for those who merely read them. Those of us who profess faith in Christ should never forget that he should always be our measurement. We should continually evaluate everything in our lives -- even something as seemingly trivial as blog-reading or writing -- in the light of how it impacts our relationship with Jesus and with other people. So we need to ask ourselves questions like: Why do I write a blog? Why do I read blogs? What motivates me to comment on posts? Are my motivations for all of these things sound ones? Is this activity one that ultimately brings me closer to Christ, or is it a distraction from that? This is where I think St. Benedict’s insights will be useful, in helping to frame those questions and flesh them out a bit.

Of course, we have to begin with the understanding that the Rule of Benedict was written as a guide for monastic life -- for monks and nuns who have sought to live under the Rule. Much of what Benedict counsels in the Rule doesn’t really apply to non-monastic settings. Many of the insights he shares are valuable mostly to vowed Benedictines, to oblates, or to those interested in Benedictine spirituality. To extrapolate too far would be to foist a particular spirituality onto people who have no interest in embracing it. Still, I think there are elements of the Rule of Benedict that can speak to and apply to all of us; after all, the Rule is very deeply rooted in Scripture, so St. Benedict does provide some very good food for thought.

One theme that St. Benedict returns to again and again in the Rule is his caution against speech. Before I can address what St. Benedict does mean, let me first dispel some misconceptions you may be harboring in your mind and talk about what he doesn’t mean. Many people often imagine monasteries to be places where people wear burlap habits and walk around all day flogging themselves, forbidden to speak to anyone at all and eating little but stale bread and water -- okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but not by much. But Benedictine monasteries are generally not places where people are interested in rigor for rigor’s sake. The reality is that despite the fact that Benedict was writing over 1500 years ago, he was already reacting against that kind of rigorism in monastic life. Benedict was actually relaxing some of the harsher restrictions found in earlier monastic rules like The Rule of the Master. So when I say St. Benedict cautions against speech, I don’t mean he imposes silence at all times and thinks that talking is necessarily evil. But what he does warn against -- and strongly -- is having the wrong motivation for speaking. He counsels his monks to be aware of why they seek to talk and advises them to evaluate the fruit their speech bears in their own hearts and in the community around them.

Specifically what does St. Benedict have to say about speech? Well, here are some relevant passages:

RB 4:20-32
Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else. You are not to act in anger or nurse a grudge. Rid your heart of all deceit. Never give a hollow greeting of peace or turn away when someone needs your love. Bind yourself to no oath lest it prove false, but speak the truth with heart and tongue.

Do not repay one bad turn with another (1 Thess 5:15, 1 Pet 3:9). Do not injure anyone, but bear injuries patiently. Love your enemies (Matt 5:44, Luke 6:27). If people curse you, do not curse them back but bless them instead.

RB 4:52-53:
Guard your lips from harmful or deceptive speech. Prefer moderation in speech and speak no foolish chatter, nothing just to provoke laughter.

CHAPTER 6: RESTRAINT OF SPEECH
Let us follow the Prophet’s counsel : I said, I have resolved to keep watch over my ways that I may never sin with my tongue. I have put a guard on my mouth. I was silent and was humbled, and I refrained from even good words (Ps 38[39]:2-3). Here the Prophet indicates that there are times when good words are to be left unsaid out of esteem for silence. For all the more reason, then, should evil speech be curbed so that punishment for sin may be avoided. Indeed, so important is silence that permission to speak should seldom be granted even to mature disciples, no matter how good or holy or constructive their talk, because it is written: In a flood of words you will not avoid sin (Prov 10:19); and elsewhere, The tongue holds the key to life and death (Prov 18:21). Speaking and teaching are the master’s task; the disciple is to be silent and listen.

Therefore, any requests to a superior should be made with all humility and respectful submission. We absolutely condemn in all places any vulgarity and gossip and talk leading to laughter, and we do not permit a disciple to engage in words of that kind.

RB 7:55-61
The ninth step of humility is that a monk controls his tongue and remains silent, not speaking unless asked a question, for Scripture warns, In a flood of words you will not avoid sinning (Prov 10:19), and, a talkative man goes about aimlessly on earth (Ps 139[140]:12).

The tenth step of humility is that he is not given to ready laughter, for it is written: Only a fool raises his voice in laughter (Sir 21:23).

The eleventh step of humility is that a monk speaks gently and without laughter, seriously and with becoming modesty, briefly and reasonably, but without raising his voice, as it is written: “A wise man is known by his few words.”

St. Benedict recognizes that the danger with speech is that it’s so often at odds with humility. Now, humility itself is a misunderstood virtue these days. The word “humility” has at its root the Latin word humus, which means “earth.” To be humble is to be grounded in reality. For Christians, that reality is ultimately our life in Christ and our utter dependence on God. Anything that’s at odds with that reality is dangerous....hence Benedict’s repeated cautions against speech. He advises his monks to value silence and to be on guard even against good speech. This may strike us as a bit over the top....but is it?

Scripture cautions us again and again about the dangers of speaking. As Benedict reminds us, the psalmist says, “I will be mindful of my ways lest I sin with my tongue.” Being mindful is obviously related to restraint of speech for the psalmist. They’re related for Benedict, too. He wants his monks to be on their guard against “foolish chatter.” What we say should always be measured and considered, not blurted and thoughtless. When it’s not measured, we get into trouble. We start talking just to hear ourselves talk....voicing our opinions endlessly on every little topic....hijacking conversations and turning the subject to our own pet topics....refusing to entertain any opinion or point of view but our own and arguing our points stubbornly and repeatedly....saying things purely to provoke laughter or admiration for our cleverness. Gee, is this starting to sound like the description of the typical combox thread to anyone else? :)

These things all seem relatively harmless, particularly in cyberspace, but at the root of them is a kind of pride. And pride is very, very dangerous to us spiritually -- perhaps the greatest spiritual danger in the end. Pride was what caused the fall of both Lucifer and Adam. We humans seem to be especially prone to it, and the devil is so good at stoking what seem to be tiny sparks into bigger flames. That’s why Benedict was so vehement about guarding ourselves against these dangers of speech. "The love of Christ must come before all else" is a pretty clear rule of thumb which Benedict provides -- the love of Christ must come before our own self-centered need to monopolize the conversation or to make people laugh or admire us for our cleverness, it must come before proving that I am right in every discussion I engage in, and it must come before my insistence on sharing my every thought with what I somehow imagine to be a waiting world. Humility, groundedness in the reality of our dependence on Christ, is the virtue that helps us to stay on track and keep the love of him at the center of our lives.

These kinds of issues are not applicable only to monks and nuns, obviously. They’re issues that have to be weighed by anyone who is in any kind of community setting, whether family, religious community, workplace, circle of friends, or the blogosphere. And there’s a special urgency for those of us who profess to be trying-to-be-faithful Catholics who write and read Catholic blogs. Like it or not, we’re a public face for Catholicism in cyberspace. The demands of discipleship don’t end when I log on. So these are the kind of issues I’ve been weighing lately, especially as I try decide the best way to prioritize blogging and blog reading in my own life. I started blogging mainly so I could stop filling up my friends’ Inboxes with links that I wanted them to see. Over the years it has evolved to include a lot more spiritually themed writing from me, which has been an interesting development. I initially imagined that no one would read this blog but a handful of people who know me; thankfully, despite the fact that I’m linked on a few other blogrolls, it has pretty much remained that way. My struggles come more as a blog reader than as a blog writer. I thought I would offer this post as food for thought for those of you who also surf the blogosphere; perhaps Saint Benedict has something to say which is valuable for you in evaluating your motivations for blogging, blog reading, or commenting. Perhaps St. Benedict’s insights can help us all to examine the fruit that these activities bear in our lives.