Br. David Steindl-Rast, OSB: Still Going at 94
I met Br. David in the mid-1970s in Boulder, Colorado. I lived in a community of Christian students, Evangelical and Catholic. We all attended the University of Colorado. Br. David was our house guest for a few evenings, while he led a retreat, probably at the Naropa Institute. Br. David is a Benedictine Catholic monk, who has also trained and practiced as a Zen Buddhist monk.
I helped Br. David wash our dinner dishes for five nights. It changed how I look at life. He focused on each dish, carefully cleaning it, as a meditation/prayer practice. Time slowed down. The miracle of existence seemed to hum a little stronger. Washing the dishes became transformed from daily drudgery to a sacred retreat. I have done most of the dishes since, wherever I have lived. Br. David remains known for choosing the dishes chore in his monastery. Thinking it must be a Buddhist thing, I respectfully joked for years that he taught me to “be the dish.” Turns out the practice comes from the Christian Rule of St Benedict.
A focus of Br. David’s work has been to help others practice gratefulness as a spiritual exercise, and to pause during our busy lives to appreciate our blessings more deeply. For a six-minute introduction to his perspective, check out this video “A Good Day”:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zl9puhwiyw&t=35s
Another of his teachings is summarized in the phrase “Stop, Look, Go.” Stop, take a deep breath. Focus on the present moment. Truly pay attention to whatever is in front of you. Then go. Don’t let life pass you by while your mind is distracted in the in the past or the future.
In his memoir, published at 90, he spoke of moving into an “old folks home” in Ithaca, New York when he was in his 70s, to prepare for his eventual death, but then became reengaged with life. “What pulled me back out from my retirement was the creation of the website ‘Grateful Living.’ Initially, I did not regard this project as a task that would shape my future. It was just that friends recommended a website and insisted on the need for it. So, I gave in, and this website turned out to be a small seed that suddenly burst forth and kept growing.”
Brother David is now 94 years old, back in his native Austria, where he lives as a hermit on the grounds of a Benedictine monastery. For most of his life he has divided his time between living as a hermit and traveling to give lectures and retreats. He remains remarkably alive and interested in life and the world.
He is a great example of remaining in a lifelong vocation while achieving advanced age, continuing in the path of his life, doing what he can while he can, while he does the dishes.
For a deeper introduction to his life and work, read his memoir “i am through you so i”.
To explore the website that brought Br. David out of retirement and into his vibrant 90’s, here is the link: www.gratefulness.org
What are you grateful for? Who are you thankful for? Consider telling them today.
Do you know someone who is working, or volunteering, past age 70? I would love to meet them, and listen to their story. russ@strategicexit.com
