Our lives today are marked by changeability. Where we live, where we work, and the cast of people with whom we share a life—even if we stay in the same place—change at an unprecedented rate. Other key things also change regularly, such as the basic tools of our work, leisure, and communication. We have gotten so used to variability that we assume it is normal, and so we can miss the great good of stability.
A foundational line in the Rule of St. Benedict comes at the end of chapter 4, which is titled “The Tools of Good Works.” He writes:
Now the workshop, wherein we diligently execute all these tasks, is the enclosure of the monastery and stability in the community.
A significant feature of the Rule, one of the great pillars of Western Christian civilization, is how the monastery is modeled on a household. Perhaps ironically but more to the point providentially, today we can look to the Rule and rediscover certain key features of a household. Here we can focus on one: stability.
The household for most of us should be the central workshop where we diligently craft a good life together—somewhat like how monks craft a good life in the monastery. ‘Stability’ is a cornerstone of monastic life. Regarding a person to be received as a monk, St. Benedict writes, “He shall promise stability, conversion of his life, and obedience.” It is remarkable that stability heads this list. I do not know the richness of what is contained in this term, yet surely among other things it highlights the central importance of regularity and continuity.
Yes, as in any art, crafting the good life implies growth and improvement, and so an appropriate openness to and seeking of certain changes. Yet at the same time, it fundamentally entails leaning into essential things that remain the same, and indeed it demands a perseverance in a sameness that allows for deep cultivation and slow fructification.
A key reason for this is that life most of all takes place in deep relationships with a relatively small number of people. Real friendships only develop over much time and in regular, reliable contexts. Stability is friendship’s middle name.
Wendell Berry offers a great insight when he writes:
Community, however, aspires toward stability. It strives to balance change with constancy. That is why community life places such high value on neighborly love, marital fidelity, local loyalty, the integrity and continuity of family life, respect for the old, and instruction of the young.
Respect for the old and instruction of the young! Indeed, here are two things which properly considered call for as much as stability as we can reasonably muster in our changeable, mobile lifestyles.
How to go about ‘making stability’ today is complicated; it might well require our making changes, precisely in view of greater stability. For instance, we might choose to move from where we are now in order to live more securely in a different community. Or, we might choose to cut out certain practices in our daily life in order to focus better on a few basics.
Stability itself is not the goal. It is however a key feature of the goal, of human flourishing, as Aristotle notes for instance, there is nothing more stable than virtue, and true friendship, and a good community. And further, stability is a key means of our crafting the good life—as St. Benedict clearly saw in the life of monks.
It seems today there is an implicit assumption that changeability if not desirable is functionally unavoidable. But we can take a different approach in our homes, the workshop of our life. Here we can look again and rediscover the gift of stability, something we make real in our lives today. ~ ~ ~
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Such a lovely piece here…much to consider. It resonates with a fairly recent life-change for our family as we moved from our “20 year old way of life” in one location to live near our aging parents in their town (formerly my hometown.) We needed to be daily implicated into their lives as the needs of these elderly loved ones were inevitably increasing. Moving away from our beloved community cost us some “stability” from uprooting where we lived and raised our children. Yet, knowing that we could be present to our parents in a way that helped support them in this season of life was paramount to us and thus, we followed where God called us. Another point in this writing that I found particularly encouraging refers to your quote from Wendell Berry, following what you offered ~ “life most of all takes place in deep relationships with a relatively small number of people. Real friendships only develop over much time and in regular, reliable contexts. Stability is friendship’s middle name.” My spouse and I are members of a Catholic lay apostolate which is worldwide but recognizes how vital it is to connect face to face in local small groups. These Small Gospel Encounter Groups are essential to our flourishing, and indeed, lend themselves to authentic discipleship and stability in deeper relationships with each other rooted in Christ. Thank you for this topic, one I wish to ponder more deeply.
Thank you very much for sharing, Lisa. It sounds like your recent decision is a great example of responding to the reality on the ground–so we seek ‘stability’ in the best way we can in the context of the demands of our life. And amen to the small encounter groups. May God bless you.
Thanks, Dr. Cuddeback. Appreciate your kind words.
Lisa, thank you for your advice on small groups! Do you recommend one in particular? Thank you, Pam
Thanks
You are very welcome David.
Thank you, John. This is beautiful. I wrote on this topic years ago and it is very dear to my heart, foundational to my life.
https://catholicstand.com/heron-life-stability/
If you are interested.
God bless you and your family.
I look forward to checking this out; thanks Suellen.
Thank you again for enlightening us on a very relevant topic for our age. I’ve been studying The Rule in the past six months and stability is a quality which resonates very strongly with me. Our impatient culture, always ready for the next adrenaline “fix”, gravitates towards constant activity and change. On the other hand, one who appreciates a quieter, orderly lifestyle which embraces stability, frequently receives negative labels in our society. Yet, as you mentioned, stability is a “key feature of the goal, of human flourishing”. Thank you for a great article and lots of food for thought!
Thank you, Karen. There is so much we can learn from the Rule. May your study be fruitful!
There are some excellent reflections on stability in Bishop (formerly Abbot) Erik Varden’s “Entering the Twofold Mystery”.
Thank you, Sean.
“The household for most of us should be the central workshop where we diligently craft a good life together.”
Yes. In the home, not the workplace, and certainly not the virtual world of the Internet.
We have lost so much stability as our world whirls around us faster and faster. The traditional anchors of community, family, place, and even trade are so ephemeral and fleeting. “Where are you from?’ you may ask a new neighbor. Whatever he or she says, it’s often not anything more than a place of birth.
We can’t change most of this, at least not in the short term, but we can have our household as our anchor, and see each other as the keys to fashioning “virtue, and true friendship, and a good community,” as you say. Thank you for posting this.
And thank you, Tom, for adding these reflections.