Dispatch from Kopua, Wednesday, April 27

We’re planning to leave Kopua tomorrow morning early to drive down to Wellington and catch the ferry for a tour of the southern island. That means we’ll be on the move and in sporadic touch with the internet, and I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to do any writing, at least any that reads like something more than a travel diary.
Jeanne and I talked this morning of our mixed feelings in leaving the monastery here. The monks, especially Father Nikko, the guest master, have been so wonderfully welcoming, and we’ve felt so much at home. We will also miss the daily rhythm of prayer and Eucharist. It will hard to be “on the road” again. On the other hand, we’re excited in anticipation of visiting the southern island, which everyone tells us is spectacularly beautiful.
As you have probably discerned already, ending the day with Compline in community has come to be very dear to us. The little booklet for Compline that’s used here begins with the following introduction: Night Prayer brings the day to a close.
Entering the night watch we engage
the darkness and silence once more.
The daily cycle is almost complete!
Trust is the virtue for this Hour.
We surrender ourselves to God’s protection.
We entrust our hearts to the blessing of rest
and to the night—an ocean yielding many a surprise.

May the Lord grant us a peaceful night
and a perfect end.
(David Steindl Rast, “Music of Silence’)
At the beginning of each office of Compline, a commentary on the Rule of St. Benedict, which after 1700 or so years still governs the daily life of this community, is read. Last night the reading was on the vow of obedience, which, on reflection, might be harder even than chastity. How hard it is to submit our lives to God and to each other. The commentary pointed out that the Latin term from which obedience derives means to listen. What an insightful and liberating slant that offers! Obedience isn’t merely adherence to a set of rules; it’s the result of deep listening in the silence of the heart—listening to God, first of all, but also to others. The commentary says that Benedict hated all arbitrary obedience, and it was only obedience from the heart, the result of listening with the ear of the heart, that has the power to convert out lives to God.