The rule of St. Benedict for a daily life, learning to listen to God with a discerning heart.

I'm Chris McGregor.

Not my will.

Episode 9

As Chapter 4 continues, St. Benedict turns toward humility.

He isn't describing a personality trait. He's describing a way of standing before God.

Humility in the rule isn't diminishing oneself. It's living a truth. It's knowing who we are,

who God is, and where we belong.

The Benedictine Way forms this humility slowly, often through restraint.

The heart learns when to yield, when to release control, and when to allow God to govern what we cannot. From Chapter 4 of the Rule of St. Benedict,

not to seek after self-will, not to delight in self-satisfaction,

to hate one's own will.

St. Benedict's language is direct, because he's naming something deeply familiar.

The pull towards self-will is subtle. It shows up in preferences, in resistance, and in the desire

to manage outcomes. It can also appear as self-reliance.

The quiet conviction that we must secure, control, or solve everything ourselves.

When that posture hardens, the heart closes in on itself.

To refuse self-will doesn't mean becoming passive or losing strength. It means

relinquishing the need to insist. It means allowing God's will to take precedence when our

own desire would otherwise dominate the moment. The phrase, to hate one's own will,

can sound severe. Benedict isn't calling for self-contempt.

He's calling for freedom from the will that must have its way. When the insistence loosens,

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