Denis Mahmic4/8/14HumanitiesPaper II Subject: Reflection on Benedictine stabilityStability: the quality or state of being stable. Many people have their own definition of what it means to be stable. Some people might think that being stable means having enough money to support your family. Another might think that being stable means living in one place for the rest of your life. Saint Benedict has his own vision of what stability means in a monastery. Throughout my life, I have observed how stability operates in my own life. For St. Benedict, stability involves a commitment to spending the rest of one's life in a community that is in the monastery into which they are introduced. To have stability, no one leaves the monastery to go to another monastery or from one place to another. Stability refers to the importance of community and the importance of engagement in life. For a nun or monk, it mentions the commitment to the monastery where they will live there for the rest of their lives. Since we are not part of a monastic organization, we can swear an oath of stability to our families, to our trust in our community, as well as to our global and local communities. We should even be steadfast toward our friends along the journey of faith. Our promise of stability is also reflected in the current crisis in our environment. We must dedicate ourselves to the earth and learn to be good representatives of what God has given us. The first text in which St. Benedict speaks of stability concerns travel in 1:10-11, where he blames the gyrovagues for "drifting from region to region" (1:10) "these wandering monks are always on the move, never settle down and are slaves to their own will and gross appetite...... middle of paper ...... h. Benedict would want someone to be part of one church for the rest of their life and not try to find a better one. Happiness is within reach and salvation is within reach if we practice stability. Through the stability aspect of Tomaine, I realized that many of these are operating in my own life. I need to live in the present and not in the past. I also realized that through my relationship with God, I have overcome challenges in life and created great relationships in every way. I believe that I should not take good relationships for granted, because they might fall apart if I do. I also learned that through stability and perseverance, I was able to cling to life even when it was doubtful. In modern times, we must live in a world of stability and practice Benedict's way of being stable. By doing this, the relationship with God and the world will be amazing.