June, 2026
DR. BRANDON BECK
LAY CHAPLAIN, COHI
MONK, THE OOOW
CHURCH OF RECONCILIATION, SAN ANTONIO, TX
THEOLOGY STUDENT, BRITE DIVINITY SCHOOL
We’ve recently come through a section of The Rule wherein Benedict teaches what have come to be known as “Tools for Good Works” (See especially Chapter 4, May 19-22) and its subsequent section wherein we learn to listen to our community in discernment about how and when to use our “Tools” (see especially Chapter 5, May 23-24). We gathered at Camp McDowell in Alabama for our Annual Conference to renew our Spirit for the Good Work of Community of Hope May 19-24, discussing our very own Spiritual Gifts (“Tools for Good Works”), to listen to each other’s stories, and to learn and grow in community as we worked together to form ourselves, form our community, and be better able to care for others.
As I was outside using my string mower this afternoon, I found myself thinking back both to our time at Camp McDowell and to Benedict’s “Tools for Good Works.” I use my string mower for two distinct purposes: 1) to edge precise lines along the sidewalks and driveway and 2) to clear stalky weeds from the middle of the yard. The list of behaviors Benedict outlines in Chapter 4 from that sort of edge and precise line around our moral character and our inner being that helps us know where and how to grow. Sister Sutera, in her commentary, says, “This compilation of scriptural instructions will be the foundation for a harmonious community, as elaborated upon in the rest of the rule, and for inner harmony as well.” (St. Benedict’s Rule: An Inclusive Translation and Daily Commentary, Judith Sutera, OSB, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, MN, 2021, p. 50)
While we were gathered at Camp McDowell, we reviewed the many “tools” available to us as Community of Hope, International, members. We celebrated the “good works” we are doing all over the country and refined our edges while encouraging the green, growing life of our community to flourish in all the ways the very natural beauty of Camp McDowell around us embodied.
What connections to your life and work draw you closer to The Rule today?
How is your own Circle of Care reminding you to develop your “Tools of Good Works?”
When you review Chapters 4 and 5, what is God asking you to let go of?
