On Summoning the Brothers for Counsel

I’ve been blessed with four amazing boys. When I travel, I take a memento that keeps them close to my mind. One memento is a football card my seven-year-old gave me. On the card is a picture of Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings offense in a team huddle with the words “huddle up” written in large bubble letters across the card. I keep this one in front of me because it reminds me of my boy, but also because it offers wisdom for how I should go about my day. 

Huddling up is something I do regularly. In the morning, I huddle up with my wife to get organized for the day’s activities. During the day, I huddle up with colleagues and students to get the work of education done. Sometimes, I huddle up with friends at the pub to catch up. 

I huddle up for several reasons. An important one is to get advice. Benedict discusses huddling up to get advice in chapter three of the Rule: “Summoning the Brothers for Counsel.” He recommends a simple, reasonable, and insightful process for making decisions in a community with others: at home, at work, or at the pub with your friends. 

The first piece of advice Benedict offers is to take inventory of the nature of the business at hand. If it’s “less important business,” then leave it to the elders, to those in charge, either mom and dad, senior management, or one of the friends. But if the business is important for everyone involved, summon them all together. Huddle up! Explain the situation to everyone, and listen to the advice of all the members. After hearing the advice, the person in charge ponders the counsel and makes the choice based on what he judges is the wiser course. 

Everyone gets a seat at the table, and everyone has a voice to contribute their counsel. At first glance, you might not think this is special, but this seemed like backward wisdom to me when I first came across it. I thought the important stuff should be left to the leadership to decide on, and the things that don’t matter could be left to anyone in the community. 

Benedict only gives one reason for why everyone in the community should be called to counsel in important matters: “the Lord often reveals what is better to the younger.” 

If we’re not careful at home, at work, or out on the town, we might fail to huddle up with everyone and miss the counsel of the wise. In the hectic pace of life, we might be especially prone to missing this wisdom if it comes from the mouth of a young. I’m glad I’ve listened to my boys. Their wisdom has made my life better. 

Benedict concludes the chapter with a scripture passage, reminding us that “those who seek counsel will not be sorry afterward” (Sir 32:24). I’ve tested and lived Benedict’s method for the past eight years and found it to be the wise course of action.