“Attend to these instructions.  Listen with the heart and the mind;  they are provided in a spirit of goodwill.”

“These words  are addressed to anyone who is willing to renounce the delusion that the meaning of life can be learned; whoever is ready to take up the greater weapon of fidelity to a way of living that transcends understanding.”

“The first rule is simply this: live this life and do whatever is done in a spirit of Thanksgiving.”

“Abandon attempts to achieve security, they are futile.”

“Give up the search for wealth, it is demeaning.”

“Quit the search for salvation, it is selfish.”

“Come to comfortable rest in the certainty that those who participate in this life with an attitude of Thanksgiving will receive its full promise.” ¹

¹ A modern paraphrase of the beginning of The Rule of Saint Benedict, by John McQuiston II, in Always We Begin Again, ISBN 0-8192-1648-8