Being Stable, not Stuck: turning a necessity into a virtue.

 

Being Stable, not Stuck: turning a necessity into a virtue

So it looks like our movements are getting more restricted again, and probably rightly so.   There’s not much we can do about the rules but what do have some measure of control over is how we react to them.  For example, if we feel stuck then we may get resentful and frustrated and that actually changes nothing.  If however we are able to accept our restricted movements as a call to stability then we could find this autumn a rich time indeed.

Stability is a virtue which has been appreciated by Christians over the years. St Benedict developed his monasteries as places of stability at a time when Europe was going through immense social and economic and even violent change.  Monks made a vow to stay the rest of their lives in the same monastery and build a community together. Here are some lines from Michael Cassidy’s book The Road to Eternal Life.

Stability is one of the fundamental values of Benedictine spirituality. Once we begin something we stay with it until the process is complete—whether it is a question of reading a book all the way through from beginning to end, remaining constant during the process of initial formation,  or faithfully practicing all the virtues throughout one’s entire life.. Stability is a result of an enduring act of the will giving assent to God’s grace.

I love that last line.  It combines the call for us to stick at our commitments through thick and thin with our need for God’s grace to help us to do that.   Generations of church members have done this at St James and countless churches, serving their communities through wartime, economic depression, social turmoil, political unrest, sticking with the stability of their core Christian commitments even when they couldn’t articulate it all.  It’s called being disciples. 

Discipleship is more than wistful thinking. In Saint Benedict’s view, it is effort, it is struggle, and it is spiritual warfare. If you choose to make seeking God the foundation of your life, then there will be hard practical choices to be made every day.

This Sunday is the 40^th anniversary of St James the less  Church in Bishopbriggs  .  Before then it was in Springburn from 1881, serving many generations of workers and their families in that area.   Groups of ordinary people attempting to be disciples of Jesus in their community in their time. Local churches continue to be amongst the longest established communities in their local areas as businesses come and go and institutions change and even housing varies over the years.  Such stability is not particularly spectacular or flashy but it stands the test of time and we continue to remain a real asset to our communities.  This is not only in the facilities we offer for community groups but also in the services that are offered to young families and older people particularly and of course in the amazing good news of Jesus Christ.

One of the many things I love about this church and community is that there are people who have been in the same houses for over 50 years… There is something about stability and commitment that we can learn from an older generation and that we will need in the uncertain times ahead.   It is how we build a community that will last as it focuses on deep principles that hold true whatever the circumstances.  This is what we call kingdom principles.  Thanks to their vows of stability the medieval monasteries became shelters of security and order and beacons of learning and hope.   On our 40^th anniversary and in the uncertain autumn ahead these are good examples to have.