Idleness is the enemy of the soul.Therefore the sisters should be occupied at certain times in manual labor, and again at fixed hours in sacred reading. To that end we think that the times for each may be prescribed as follows. From Easter until the Calends of October,when they come out from Prime in the morning let them labor at whatever is necessary until about the fourth hour, and from the fourth hour until about the sixth let them apply themselves to reading. After the sixth hour, having left the table, let them rest on their beds in perfect silence;or if anyone may perhaps want to read, let her read to herself in such a way as not to disturb anyone else. Let None be said rather early, at the middle of the eighth hour,and let them again do what work has to be done until Vespers. And if the circumstances of the place or their poverty should require that they themselves do the work of gathering the harvest,let them not be discontented; for then are they truly monastics when they live by the labor of their hands, as did our Fathers and the Apostles. Let all things be done with moderation, however, for the sake of the faint-hearted.

Worship, work, reading, and rest organized for humane living; we might say a truly human life.

It is an attractive structure. In a time of turmoil - such as Benedict's or our own - the orderly and repeating proportions are especially enticing.

My wife suggests I am a "natural monk," because I prefer to start early and work alone. But my life is full of disruptions and my work, in particular, is disorderly.

There is a crucial distinction between work and vocation. Benedict's communities are organized around vocation. The work is supportive and often secondary.

Since I was 12 or even younger I have wanted to be a writer. But I have had very few readers. It has been, I think, a calling. But it is not -- yet -- quite a career.

I have a sense that if and when I can organize my life around vocation that the puzzle will fall in place: worship, work, reading, and rest in perfect proportion.