The eighth degree of humility is that a monk do nothing except what is commended by the common Rule of the monastery and the example of the elders.

In many churches the New Testament reading assigned for today is from Paul's letter to the church in Galatia. The reading includes:

"For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’" (Galatians 5:13-14)

Many of the great faiths teach detachment as spiritual discipline. Jesus also demonstrated a kind of detachment from much that was esteemed in the culture of his time.

But much more important to the teachings of Jesus is an attachment to one another. We are Christians together or we are not Christians at all.

We begin to heal the universe by binding ourselves together in messy, complicated, often aggravating communities of faith.

Above is a fresco from Montecassino showing Benedict surrounded by those who have followed his Rule.