Several years ago, my wife and I celebrated Easter at the Officer Christian Fellowship lodge in White Sulphur Springs, PA. The tradition there was meals we enjoyed together and afterwards everyone cleared the tables and washed the dishes. It a great equalizer where young cadets and midshipmen worked alongside old colonels and generals. We had great fun and enjoyed the fellowship. In a different setting, another friend was fond of saying, “Many hands make light work.” Joy of shared service can balance egos and build healthy community. Benedict encourages community building by requiring everyone to serve in the kitchen. Food appears to be uniquely the glue of community. Love is fostered in the kitchen.
This chapter does not carry the tone of using kitchen service as a means of punishment or retribution of any type. There are exceptions. The cellarer may be exempt if the community is larger. However, in larger communities, the cellarer is afforded help from others. So, he can enjoy company in a different setting (see Chapter 31). Also, physically stronger citizens are encouraged to help physically weaker members.
There is a rhythm, a division of labor to the work. Some wash and others cook. Still others serve the food. Service is not intended to be a hardship. Those who are detailed to kitchen duty will eat before they serve the others. I am reminded of another Army experience. The cook section always started preparing breakfast long before the others were awake. I often visited them to hear singing and laughter. There was a comradery among these soldiers that was very special. Something was very troubling when the cooks stopped laughing. St. Benedict charged those serving to remember from where their strength derived. They were to recite, “Blessed are you, Lord God, who have helped me and comforted me.”[1]
Meals are central to Benedictine communal life. Even during periods of silence, there is a current in the atmosphere, a feeling of celebration, a realization of life. How do we experience this blessing outside the monastic walls? Can we be intentional about sharing meals together? When we do celebrate feasts or simply enjoy a time of hospitality after worship, we miss an important opportunity of joy when we fail to participate in serving AND cleaning up after sharing. We discover we are equal in service. Perhaps it is these acts of service where we journey in the second mile with our Lord.
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[1] Timothy Fry Benedict, RB 1980: The Rule of St. Benedict in English (1982), 58.
