Working from home : insights from The Rule of St. Benedict

Salim, Emil (author)

In this article, I present a rereading of Benedictine spirituality of work in the Rule of St. Benedict, delineating four major points. First, I show that the Benedictine work ethic is grounded primarily in the vow of obedience, with supplemental utilitarian considerations. Second, I explore the various work functions within the monastery, which is akin to a home, as reflected in the monastic spaces. Third, with respect to the concept of time, monastic work is both scheduled and done according to needs, providing flexibility while imposing temporal order. Lastly, monastic work is also a communal endeavour and must be done by monks to the best of their abilities. Even while the monks are apart from each other while travelling, they still consider themselves as working together. I argue that these Benedictine perspectives on work offer valuable insights for individuals working from home (WFH) during and beyond the coronavirus pandemic.

• Language: English
• Keywords: spirituality, monasticism, work, pandemic, obedience, Benedictine
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.02 - Review Article
• Organization: TEOF - Theological Faculty
• Publication status: In print
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Publication date: 01.01.2024
• Year: 2024
• Number of pages: Str. 151-164
• Numbering: Letn. 84, [št.] 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-163997
• UDC: 27-789.2-428:331.103
• ISSN on article: 0006-5722
• DOI: 10.34291/BV2024/01/Salim
• COBISS.SI-ID: 206194691
• Publication date in RUL: 15.10.2024

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Bogoslovni vestnik : glasilo Teološke fakultete v Ljubljani
• Shortened title: Bogosl. vestn.
• Publisher: Teološka fakulteta
• ISSN: 0006-5722
• COBISS.SI-ID: 8745472

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Title: Delo od doma : spoznanja iz Pravila svetega Benedikta

Abstract

V tem članku predstavljam ponovno branje benediktinske duhovnosti dela v Pravilu svetega Benedikta, pri čemer izpostavljam štiri glavne točke. Prvič, pokažem, da je benediktinska delovna etika utemeljena predvsem v zaobljubi poslušnosti, z dodatnimi utilitarističnimi premisleki. Drugič, raziskujem različne delovne funkcije v samostanu, ki je podoben domu, kar se odraža v samostanskih prostorih. Tretjič, v zvezi s pojmom časa je samostansko delo načrtovano in opravljeno v skladu s potrebami, kar zagotavlja prožnost in hkrati vzpostavlja časovni red. Nazadnje, samostansko delo je tudi skupno prizadevanje in ga morajo menihi opravljati po svojih najboljših močeh. Čeprav so menihi med potovanjem ločeni drug od drugega, še vedno menijo, da delajo skupaj. Trdim, da ti benediktinski pogledi na delo ponujajo dragocen vpogled za posameznike, ki delajo od doma (WFH) med pandemijo koronavirusa in po njej.

• Keywords: duhovnost, samostan, delo, pandemija, poslušnost, benediktinci