Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Age quod agis: Do what you do

In today's Community Press for Mason and Deerfield Township in Ohio, Father Lou Guntzelman wrote a column called "We hardly are where we are." Father Guntzelman talks about the "distractions" of daily life: "We alone have the power to raise ourselves to a different level of experience, a level that has more charm than mere practicality, more benefit than just doing a job," while quoting Thomas Moore:
"There's no essential conflict between enchanted living and practical, productive activity," writes Thomas Moore, "they can serve each other: one delighting the spirit of ambition, the other comforting the heart."
Father Guntzelman quotes St. Benedict too. One of St. Benedict's "important directives to his monks, and to all people wanting to live a healthy life, was the Latin adage, 'Age quod agis,' which says, 'Do what you do!'" Thomas Moore wrote a preface for St. Benedict's Rule published in 1998.

Preface by Thomas Moore