Cleopatra Whitney – My Promise for 2025
What prevents me from preferring nothing whatever to Christ?
My human loves to pet me, but I grow weary of being petted, and the boxer in me comes out. I know that if I were preferring Christ, I would let her pet me as long as she wants. My actions get in the way of my being the spiritual kitty that I strive to be.
Practices from the Rule to help me craft my promise:
“In the monastery every occasion for presumption is to be avoided, and so we decree that no one has the authority to excommunicate [discipline] or strike any member of the community unless given this power by the prioress or abbot…After all, it is written: Never do to another what you do not want done to yourself (Tob 4:16).” RB 70.1-2, 7
“No monastics are to pursue what they judge better for themselves, but instead, what they judge better for someone else.” RB 72.7
“Your way of acting should be different from the world’s way; the love of Christ must come before all else.” RB 4.20-21
My 2025 Promise:
In reading the Rule verse that I found here is what I am going to do: I will refrain from boxing at my human and put her needs first – to pet me. To do this I will put the love of Christ first in everything that I do, and not my preferences. I will refrain from pleading any annoyance as an excuse.
What my human needs to learn to help her prefer nothing whatever to Christ:
How to live life and stop watching it go by. (I help with that.)
Practices from the Rule to help my human craft her promise:
“Let us get up then, at long last, for the Scriptures rouse us when they say: It is high time for us to arise from sleep (Rom. 13:11). Let us open our eyes to the light that comes from God.” Prologue 9a-10
“What is more delightful than this voice of the Holy One calling to us? See how God’s love shows us the way of life.” Prologue 19-20
“Do not be daunted immediately by fear and run away from the road that leads to salvation. It is bound to be narrow at the outset. But as we progress in this way of life and in faith, we shall run on the path of God’s commandments, our hearts overflowing with the inexpressible delight of love.” Prologue 48-49
My Human’s 2025 Promise:
Cleopatra Whitney asks you to join her and craft your own 2025 Promise.