In the ancient craft of he early monastics, stability was etched into the rule of life. Not only did it enable folks to live out community over a longer period of time - dealing with all the issues that emerge during time lived in close proximity with others; it opened people up to a deeper integrity as they were gifted to see the disparaging depths of their own soul that could not be hidden by a new beginning. Stability requires us to battle ennui and listlessness, boredom and apathetic stagnation.
This development of the spiritual side of life is exactly what Benedict and the rule-crafters of old had in mind. Stay put and see what comes up, see what comes out of you when you are in one place for some time. Of course there are needs for missional plants around the world to foster a sense of spreading the good news. but, there is also a call to stability that we must that we must listen for as well. Even in planting new shoots and roots of community around the globe requires that the planters hunker-down and get rooted themselves. So, stability calls us all in many ways.
Check out Jonathon Wilson-Hartgrove's new book (hits the stands friday) The Wisdom of Stability.
Peace,
Tom+
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