Moderation is not just about stopping at buzzed

You’ve picked up The Record to see what your classmates are writing about this week, check out the weekly cartoon and catch up on what’s been happening on campus, and now you see the campus ministry guy is writing about moderation, great… I know what you’re thinking, don’t move onto the next article yet, this is not another talk about responsible drinking or decision making on the weekends (stopped@buzzed posters are far more engaging than I could ever be). What I hope to illustrate is that moderation is influential in all areas of Benedictine Life, and that this value has something to offer all of us in our daily lives, on and off campus.

When I joined the Benedictine Volunteer Corps (BVC) and lived alongside a monastic community for a year, the most striking thing about them was their intentionality. Wherever they were, whoever they were with, whatever they were doing, it was done fully. This intentionality came about because of the “Benedictine Rhythm” of their life. “Ora et Labora,” or “prayer and work,” is central to the Benedictine way of life. This practice balances the two major areas of their lifestyle, communal prayer and work for the common good. As Benedict states in his Rule, “the brothers should have specified periods for manual labor as well as for prayerful reading” (R.B. 48.1). Having time set aside for the major focuses of their lives allowed the monks to be fully present in whatever they were doing.

Now you may be saying, “great for them, but I am not a monk.” Fair point, neither am I. So, what does this have to do with those of us who are not members of a Benedictine Community?

Benedictine moderation is not just about setting aside time for prayer or work; it is also about making time for rest — “they may rest on their beds” (R.B. 48.5) and avoiding extremes. If we never make time to rest, we will never have the energy to do the work we need to do. To make time for the things that pull us in the many directions we are pulled takes intentionality; sometimes we have to pull out our Outlook calendar and realize that the group meeting between classes is going to keep us from getting lunch.

Practicing moderation is about noticing what in your life is taking too large of a chunk of the pie and giving yourself permission to make time for something else. If you’ve got a paper due or a test coming up, give yourself permission to leave the library at a certain time for a walk or a movie night, and come back to it tomorrow refreshed. Lean into the Benedictine practice of moderation by allowing yourself to say “yes” to some things and “no” to others. Give yourself permission to be fully where you are, with who you are with and doing what you are doing. To live a life of moderation is to live fully in all things by avoiding extremes in any one thing.