The Spiritual Practice of Stability

This summer, I have been spending a lot of time reading books by Benedictine nun Joan Chittister. In the midst of social distancing and sheltering at home, it seemed like a wise thing to spend time with a monastic! Currently, I am reading “Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today.” In this book, she breaks down the Rule of St. Benedict, which were a set of guidelines for monastic living, which included ordering the day into hours for prayer, study, work, fellowship, and attending to the needs and health of the community, to show how it can inform contemporary life.

I have been reflecting on her chapter “Stability: Revelation of the Many Faces of God”.

We are currently in the midst of a time of great social instability. It feels as if all that we once rested on—the good and the bad—are now up for grabs and the very institutions we found comfort in are in the midst of tremendous change. What does “stability” look like in our current climate? How is finding and committing to stability a spiritual practice for us?

Even before COVID-19, Chittister critiqued our engagement with stability: “The problem is that perseverance and persistence are aspects of stability which the present word counts little. If our children don’t learn, we blame the teachers rather than expect the students to study harder. If the book is difficult, we don’t read it even if the intellectual struggle would be worth it. If the show is too long, we leave early even if that wastes the price of the ticker. If the work is hard, we quit.”

Ouch. This hit close to home!

She goes on to explain why stability is necessary: “Stability, however, says that we have an obligation to see things through until we have done for them what can be done and, no less important, until they have done for us what can be done as well.” (p. 151). Stability, with its aspects of perseverance and persistence, impacts not only others, but ourselves as well: “We stay with a thing in order to grow, not in order not to grow…I will certainly fail to learn a great deal about myself if I leave a thing before it’s finished. I will fail to learn the strengths that give me quality. And I will fail to face the weaknesses that call for change. I will end up being less than I can be.”(p. 152-153)

In the Rule of Benedict, stability’s first task is remaining steadfast in our relationship with God. In this way, stability centers “us in something greater than ourselves so that nothing lesser than ourselves can possibly sweep us away…Stability says that where I am is where God is for me.”

Chittister turned my understanding of stability upside down: stability isn’t the place where everything stays the same. It is an engagement that invites sticking with something long enough to be changed by it. And for this reason, stability is a spiritual practice: by committing to stability, we are opening ourselves up to growth, change, and conversion.

How are you creating and maintaining stability in these days we are living? What are you learning about yourself? Where are you committing yourself to growth even when the going gets hard? I’d love to hear your thoughts!