In Benedict's supremely realistic way, the spiritual life was something to be worked at, not merely hoped for. The importance of community life is another great theme of Benedict's Rule. Prior to Benedict, religious life was the life of the hermit, who went to the desert and lived alone in order to seek God. St. Benedict teaches that growth comes from accepting people as they are, not as we would like them to be. His references to the stubborn and the dull, the undisciplined and the restless, the careless and the scatterbrained have the ring of reality.
Stability means that the monastic pledges lifelong commitment to a particular community.
To limit oneself voluntarily to one place with one group of people for the rest of one's life makes a powerful statement. For Benedictines, the vow of stability proclaims rootedness, at-homeness, that this place and this monastic family will endure. Obedience also holds a special place in Benedict's community. The exercise of authority in the Rule points more to mercy than justice, more to understanding of human weakness than strict accountability, more to love than zeal. What defines the leader of a Benedictine community is not being head of an institution but being in relationship with all the members.