Chapter One of the Rule describes four kinds of monks. At first glance, this chapter seems to have very little to do with us. But it raises an essential element in our spiritual formation: stability.
Stability is the quality that enables us to live our lives with discernment and confidence. The sarabaites lack true discernment because “they do whatever strikes their fancy” (verse 8). The gyrovagues “spend their entire lives drifting from region to region” (verse 10). Both of these lack stability.
We continue to find expressions of this “unstable” spirituality today. Contemporary sarabaites are those who approach their formation very subjectively—with little or no sense of connection to the tradition of the church. In fact, extreme sarabaites may view tradition as an inhibitor, preferring to do it “their way.” They live a rootless spirituality.
The gyrovagues are the “church hoppers,” staying a little while here, and a little while there—never satisfied with the church as it is. These are people whose theology of the church is so “pure” that they can never find it. They evaluate church in terms of what they “get out of it,” and if it is not “feeding them,” they move on.
Benedict rightly saw these abberations as counterfeit and destructive to the spiritual life. Instead, he called for a spiritual formation in community. Even the hermits were to be attached to some community, where they could experience fellowship, receive instruction, and live with accountability. We don’t want to read past Chapter One in the Rule too quickly, for we see the same needs in our spiritual formation today.
Oboedire 