The Spirit Often Reveals What is Better to the Young
An introduction and invitation to this space.
Networked with the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, “Brick by Brick” is a publication that provides generative space to allow young people to grow, explore, and see how monastic wisdom, paired with their unique experiences, takes root in their life. Interested in contributing? See our about page.
On a recent (non-work) committee, I felt like the token young person there, used to make everyone feel like they had full community representation, but without other members actually wanting to listen to or engage with what I had to say.
As I was on the phone bemoaning this to my dear sweet friend, she responded with, “Michelle, if they think that you’re a young person, they’ve already missed the mark.”
I have to say, at a few months shy of thirty, her comment threw me for a moment. What do you mean I’m not young? I’m so used to being the youngest person in the room – among coworkers, in the midst of other elementary school parents, even around friends.
(Cue the Simone Biles interview - “I’m young, I’m hip, I’m fresh)
My friend was right though, as she often is (isn’t it great to have friends who can snap you out of your own self-centered perception of the world)? If I am the youngest voice at the table, a lot of voices are missing. As well as teens and youth the age of my own children, there is an entire generation of adults younger than me, who are not the future of society, but are integral members here and now.
These are the young adults who are rejecting the institutions and structures that no longer serve them. Those who are reluctant to be guilted into things without sound reasoning. Those who are willing to learn, relearn, and take action around what matters. It is a disservice to society to treat those younger than ourselves as not yet having something to offer the world. Rather, the young are the prophets of our time.
“the spirit often reveals what is better to the young”
In Chapter 3 of the Rule of Benedict, while discussing how community should gather and converse, St. Benedict notes that “the spirit often reveals what is better to the young.” There is such strength that comes from healthy intergenerational community – a meeting place for the wisdom of differing experiences of the world to come together to create the world anew.
The community of Benedictine sisters that planted themselves in Erie, Pennsylvania in 1856 has grown through decades and centuries- not just surviving through it, but adapting, growing, learning, and as a community journeying in a constant state of becoming. This community offers to the world the deep wisdom of relationships, spiritual grounding, and attentiveness to the needs of the greater community.
With the goal of fostering community at the core of Benedictine life, this Erie Benedictine community is uniquely poised to cultivate networked intergenerational community that can become an incubator and launch pad- offering supportive space and rich tradition in which young people can be held and centered as we experience our own process of becoming.
The young people of today are creating the new world that will pick up the pieces for when the institutions as we know them crumble – our ideas and work does not need to be and cannot be more of the same. A robust future for all is radically inclusive, and will be created through the mutual wisdom and support of generations.
AUTHOR
Michelle Scully is the program and events coordinator for the Benedictine Sisters of Erie. Contact her if you are interested in contributing a piece to this space, or becoming connected to the Erie Benedictines through a variety of ways, including the Benedictine Peacemakers.