Structure

The Rule of St. Benedict which structures the day and life of the monk, is not meant to make a person become a generic monk, or a monk like other monks.  Nor does the rule make you a mystic.  What the rule does is provide an overall structure, or order, that allows a person to become their best self as a monk.  It takes many years, even with the structure, or because of the structure, for a person to become a monk.  Structure allows one to focus on the spiritual growth because a lot of other daily events, needs, wants, are taken care of by the rule.  One does not have to ask what time it is.  A bell will tell them time and what comes next.  Meals happen at a specific time.  Common prayer, and what prayers are said in common are all a given throughout the day.  One does not have to spend endless time planning or changing things.  So I think it can be of great help to you who read this, non-monks, non-nuns, not in monasteries, to find a way to have structure, routine in your life, so that you can focus more energy on the prayer, with more time given, due to structure, for silence and solitude.  This is especially hard in Covid times, when we have so little control over things.  But having meals at a certain time, getting up and going to bed at a certain time, recreation at a certain time, and limiting how many tasks will be done in any one day, all give structure and can contribute to the energy needed for a spiritual practice.