Benedictines were grammarians. They cared deeply about words and their meanings and usage. Instead of calling Leah Libresco Sargeant an \u201ceffervescent Benedict Option social entrepreneur\u201d they would recognize her for what she is: a Christian with a gift for hospitality and community-building. Sargeant notes that this kind of hospitality is not new, and neither is the Benedict Option:<\/p>\n
People are like, \u2018This Benedict Option thing, it\u2019s just being Christian, right?\u2019 And I\u2019m like, \u201cYes! You\u2019ve figured out the koan!\u201d But people won\u2019t do it unless you call it something different. It\u2019s just the church being what the church is supposed to be, but if you give it a name, that makes people care.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
She\u2019s right about what is best about the Benedict Option\u2014it\u2019s just Christianity. But she\u2019s wrong about the effect of the name. The Benedict Option is not a mystery designed to break open the mind; it\u2019s a catchphrase that expresses a feeling of alarm and an intuited need for redirection. If the Benedict Option is just Christianity, it is neither inherently Benedictine nor is it optional. If it is a feeling and intuition, it needs to be guided by careful, prudent thought so that it bears good fruit. Dreher describes the question facing today\u2019s Christians as \u201cnot whether to quit politics entirely, but how to exercise political power prudently, especially in an unstable political culture.\u201d But that has always been the question facing Christians\u2014and it is one to which Dreher never offers a clear answer.<\/p>\n
These reservations aside, many readers will find Dreher\u2019s counsel on practical spiritual matters helpful, even as they wish for clarity in his argument. Living the Christian faith intently in communities has been the heart\u2014and challenge\u2014of Christianity from the beginning. For like the monastic life, the Christian life has one ultimate goal: quaerere Deum\u2014to seek God.<\/p>\n