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Apart from the cancer context, “stable” is generally a good word. If you’re building a house, you want a stable foundation. If your son or daughter is getting engaged, it’s a good thing if the other young person is stable – emotionally grounded, economically well-established. While “stable” may suggest, to some, a Babbitt-like stodginess, it sure beats a lot of the alternatives.
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Benedict promulgated the rule of stabilo, or stability. This meant a monk’s lifetime vows were taken not only to the Benedictine order, but also to the particular monastery. To this day, it’s an unusual thing for a Benedictine to relocate permanently to another monastic house (although they do sometimes live elsewhere for a time, to pursue academic studies or other temporary work).
An article posted on one Benedictine website quotes Dom Jean Leclercq: “Stability is derived from stare, which means to stand, and also to be still. From this comes its figurative meaning – to be firm, to stand fast, to endure, to persevere, to be rooted.”
The article goes on to say:
“The evils that stability of heart seeks to avoid, are ones that our times reflect so clearly, such as restlessness of mind and heart, thirst for new experiences and the allure of ‘life in the fast lane.’ Pursuit of these often results in the diminishing of the desire for depth, life becomes superficial, an unceasing search for new and exciting adventures.” (“Stability - Stability of Heart,” by Fr. Hilary Ottensmeyer, OSB.)
Stability of a cancerous tumor is not such a good thing – better than the alternative, of course, but still not so appealing as that blessed word, “remission.” Yet, when it comes to our inner, spiritual and emotional life, stability is a good thing indeed. I suppose the spiritual challenge of living with indolent cancer lies in cultivating a certain inner stability – a virtue that’s still largely eluding me. That “restlessness of mind and heart” is all too typical of my days.
From our Benedictine friends, once again:
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That’s surely an allusion to Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:24-25: “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.”
Now, there’s a stability I could learn to live with.
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