Emma “Puss” – My Promise for 2025
What prevents me from preferring nothing whatever to Christ?
What gets in the way of preferring nothing whatever to Christ
When things happen that I don’t like I tend to grumble about them long after they are over. Example: to have my nails trimmed and other canines visiting our home. I find it even hard to tolerate the dog, Topper. All this closes my heart.
Practices from the Rule to help me craft my promise:
“The fourth step of humility is that in this obedience under difficult, unfavorable, or even unjust conditions, our hearts quietly embrace suffering and endure it without weakening or seeking escape. For scripture has it: Anyone who perseveres to the end will be saved (Matt 10:22), and again, Be brave of heart and rely on God” (Ps 27:14). RB 7.35-37
“We must, then, prepare our hearts and bodies for the battle of holy obedience to God’s instructions. What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Holy One to supply by the help of grace.” Prologue 40-41
“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:
I want to feel as close to God all the time like I do when I hear chanting. So, I will accept things I don’t like (nail trims, other dogs, and being interrupted while reading The New York Times) and try not to grumble. My goal is to persevere in obedience. I will pray to my dear friend Emily, now in the Paradise Cloister, to help me keep these promises.
What my human needs to learn to help her prefer nothing whatever to Christ:
My human needs to remember that I was here first!
Practices from the Rule to help my human craft her promise:
“The younger monastics, then, must respect their elders, and the elders must love their juniors.” RB 63.10
“Obedience is a blessing to be shown by all, not only to the prioress and abbot but also to one another, [especially to me] since we know that it is by this way of obedience that we go to God.”
RB 71.1-2 Modified by Novice Emma
“No monastics are to pursue what they judge better for themselves, but instead, what they judge better for someone else.” RB 72.7
My Human’s 2025 Promise:
Emma asks you to join her and craft your own 2025 Promise.