Upon reflecting on the arrangements for clothing and footwear in this chapter it may be possible to sense a kind of sparseness, but not of a barren kind. Instead, this sense has more resonance with the simplicity of lifestyle that a lack of excess can bring. This simplicity of dress, both in quality and quantity, as well as in its sharing, has the potential to free the soul a little more from care and to encourage a non-attachment to even the essentials of life.The Rule of Benedict was written for people who choose to live together physically in one place. There is something about this dynamic of physicality that brings out the embodied nature of what it means to grow in love. Effective community is about the psychological ‘bumps’ and ‘rubs’ that we gift each other with as we physically live together. Effective community is also about the centrality of a prayer life actually done together. The two complement each other. Community members at a distance from this physical community can miss out on these psychological and spiritual aspects. Because they are not ‘under the same roof’, they risk being out of touch with an environment that may be growing good fruit in its participants. >>> Read more here