I have been thinking a bout obedience a lot lately. I have to admit, I struggle with it some. As a visionary and a creative person, I sometimes find it challenging. There are many in my life that I find easy to obey. They have a way that works well with me. Their goals and values are much like mine. But sometimes obedience is more of a challenge. I may not agree with a law or a policy. I may think that my way of doing things is better. I may thing that another way of doing things will be disastrous.
Obedience in the Benedictine sense is not blind obedience. We are not mindless robots. We can disagree with a plan or decision. We can speak out humbly if we disagree with something. However, our ultimate motivation is not being right but love. It is out of love for Christ and our brothers and sisters that we obey. It is also out of an awareness of our own limitations.
There may be times when we cannot obey. A few years ago, I left a job because I felt that I could not in good conscience obey a policy. There has been another time or two when I had to disobey when I though that I could not obey in a way that would not violate my values, ethics or the law.. In those times, I acted as respectably as I could and trusted myself to God. In ever case so far, God has intervened.
