Tag: rule of life

Rule of Life 2025

Happy New Year! I begin this year with what became a significant part of my formation in Christ over the last few years. As the title suggests, this practice is called a “rule of life”. Many people find choosing one word for the year helpful, others choose practices or resolutions. This idea of a rule of life is ancient going back to monasteries and convents early in the life of the church. In recent years this practice has become for many an alternative to the typical New Year’s resolutions. If you want to see what’s out there on this subject, google it and you will find several sites and/or books on this. I wrote on this practice in January 2024 and have included a link to that post.

https://hamewith.org/2024/01/rule-of-life

Personally, it has been a rich encounter in prayer and dialogue with God and others. I am not good at setting what seem to be unrealistic goals or resolutions that by the end of January I am discouraged and end up setting the rules aside. I believe there is an actual name for that – called Quitters Day and it happens on the second Friday in January! The rule of life is a marker or signpost that takes me deeper into my Christian formation. Below are some very significant markers for me. Yours might be very different than these. But I encourage you to take this season and prayerfully consider where God might be leading you on this part of your journey.

Baptism

…that [I] may remain faithful to my baptism, living by it, making it always the source and the power of his life, a constant judgment, criterion, inspiration, “rule of life.”1  

Photo by Ante Hamersmit on Unsplash

St Patrick’s Breastplate

I bind unto myself today
The strong name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ’s incarnation, (Christ with us and in us)
His baptism in the Jordan river, (his identification with us)
His death on the cross for my salvation; (forgiveness of sin)
His bursting from the spiced tomb; (new life)
His riding up the heavenly way; (taking us with him into heaven)
His coming at the day of doom; (his glorious return)
I bind unto myself today.

Calling

My calling in this season of life is to share the wisdom God has carved out of me (carved into me) through His sanctifying work – whether in joy or sorrow, suffering or peace, absence or presence.

By identifying my calling in this season of life, I believe it provides a great signpost not only to my intentions but to the decisions I will make about how I spend my time, and my resources.

I have wavered on this calling so many times just in the last few years and have often believed I should stop doing something that’s so hard and makes me feel vulnerable. I had prayed about this many times and after a time of prayer with some very encouraging friends I went back to the Lord and this is what I heard in response to my cry! I will say, that I was very unsure about including this, because it is so personal and I feel very vulnerable sharing it. But I do so as an encouragement that God does speak to us when we have doubts or feel shame about what He is calling us to do.

Little one, I am not asking you to be special or profound – but to look at your life – all the crooked ways made straight by My grace and power. Dig deep and there you will find living water. Even the scent of water is enough to share. I am not asking you to share what I have done in someone else’s life. It’s your story that you’ve been given to share.  Word from 10/29/23.

Prayer

(from last year’s post on rule of life, which I still find meaningful today.)

Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I may not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit to supply every thought,
speak in every word, direct every step,
prosper every work, build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love, advance thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year, with
thee, O Father, as my harbor,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.

        The Valley of Vision (a compilation of Puritan Prayers), Arthur Bennett.

My rule of life came out of  dialogue not only with God, but also out of dialogue with my own soul and what I needed most. And if these things I’ve included in my rule of life are meant to characterize my life I must find ways that help me live that out. I’m allergic to the word resolutions (especially this time of year!) but they can help engage our wills as we seek to live out our desires. While I haven’t specifically included this in my rule of life, I have been convicted about how I love (more specifically how I don’t love) others in the holy and honorable way they deserve to be loved. For a talk I gave several years ago I put together a set of life together resolutions – and I realize how much that can help move me from “I would like to love better,” to actually finding concrete and specific ways to do so.

This will take you to the post on “life together resolutions.” https://hamewith.org/2025/01/life-together-resolutions/

When I take Schmemann’s statement on baptism to heart,  I hope it’s clear that I am not literally referring to my own baptism. Even though I was an adult, I have no clear memories of that time. That saddens me. I had only been a Christian a short time and it happened in a lake on my college campus. But our baptisms, (remembered or not!) picture so completely our formation in Christ.

Living out our baptisms was the way Leanne Payne talked about wholeness in Christ. It means as Peter says in 1 Peter 2:24 – “He himself bore our sins on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness.” Each day I believe we have the opportunity to die to self and sin, confess it, receive His forgiveness and grace and rise up as one who has been given the fullness of life! We know as Paul said in Galatians 2:20 – “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. The inexorable hope of glory!

This version of St Patrick’s Breastplate is meaningful to me because it tracks the whole life of Christ and thus the whole life of the church as we live out the significant acts of His life. “I bind…” – I don’t just affirm, I don’t just agree… I take this truth to heart. The image I have is of Odysseus tying himself to the mast of the ship that he might not yield to the temptation of the sirens.

When we mark and honor all that happened in the life of Christ every aspect becomes a part of our daily confession. For those who follow the Orthodox tradition , “the focus is on a Person (Christ) and the life He lived – the arc of Christ’s life beginning with his taking on human nature, his birth, his growing up, his ministry and his teachings, his death on the Cross, his third day resurrection, his ascension into heaven, his sending the Holy Spirit, and his glorious Second Coming. ” 1

So, as often as I pray this version of this part of St Patrick’s prayer – I can see myself – tying myself to the mast of Christ’s work on my behalf – all of it.  As I do that,  in much the same way it helped Odysseus, I am strengthened to face the temptations and trials of this life.

Lastly, as I regularly review my rule of life in prayer – I am made more aware of my need to find spiritual practices that give me “boots on the ground.” I must align what I do with what I feel God calling me to do. So it impacts how I spend my time, my resources, my body, mind, soul and spirit! But how well I engage with the spiritual practices I feel called to is not the goal -simply part of the means to living out what God has led me to in my rule of life. Some of those practices include confession of sin (I have two lovely partners who help me with this!), lectio divina (sacred reading), study of the Scriptures, and of course prayer. There are other practices I might be called to in particularly difficult times.

I’ll end with what I wrote at the end of the post on rule of life that I wrote in January of last year.

May it start in us through the song God has sung over us through all our days. May it spring from a place of hunger, and a desire for transformation that can only result in our becoming like Him. May we be resolute in casting off any hindrance, any sin, any relationship that inhibits His sanctifying work in us. May we live out our baptisms every day. From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep may we remember to take our place in His death and in His resurrection – through prayer, through confession, through practicing His presence, through virtue, and through love.

1 Alexander Schmemann, Of Water and the Spirit.
2 Robert Arakaki https://orthodoxbridge.com/2014/03/11/taking-the-incarnation-seriously
Feature image – Photo by Reuben Hustler on Unsplash

Rule of Life

I’ve wanted to write for several days now about a practice I’ve engaged in over the last few years. It’s become a pretty popular exercise, and you’ll find all kinds of information out there on the world wide web! I was probably first exposed to it through using a planner created by Sacred Ordinary Days. The idea goes back to the 6th century when a monk named Benedict developed it for his monastery. I’m not going to go into much detail here but google it and find what you can, if you’re interested.

What I do want to say is that a rule of life is not a set of resolutions, or a mission statement or a set of rules. It is not a list of things that need to be done; it’s about ways we are called to live. Rule refers to measure not regulation. This past year I sat with the idea for several months, and let it simply emerge out of my relationship with God, and some things He was calling me to.

“It is a commitment to live in a certain way. It is created with prayer and discernment as we consider the way God made us and the unique ways we are invited to partner with God in kingdom building” (Sacred Ordinary Days).

“It helps us to stay connected to God in the present moment by noticing the now – not by adding disciplines to an already busy life but by becoming conscious of God in what we are already doing. Our part is to remain available, to listen, to observe, to act, to be. This enables us to remain spiritually alive – mindful of God’s presence with us” (Northumbria Community).

The rule of life is descriptive not prescriptive. Henri Nouwen said this about it – “it does not prescribe, it invites, it does not force, but guides.”

So that’s a quick view into the idea – and you will find all kinds of different ways to create your rule of life, should you choose to do it. I did not start 2023 with a clear idea of what I wanted here – but a few things directed me toward what I wanted it to do.

…regla, a feminine noun, carries gentle connotations;

a sign post, a railing, something that gives me support

as I move forward in my search for God.

Esther de Waal

The first was this definition by Esther de Waal. – I loved that she refers to it as a feminine noun (whereas I think of mission statements as being more masculine in tone – not bad, just very action oriented!).

I knew I wanted something to measure my intentions by and I loved the picture of a signpost. One of the ways I’m wired is that I’m not a details sort of person; I’m more drawn to the big picture. I’m much more likely to tell you how to get somewhere by giving you landmarks, not mile markers! The relevance here is that I am more drawn to symbols (pictures) than instructions. But that’s not true of all of us is it? We may all approach this idea of a rule of life differently. My only recommendation is that we keep it “being” centered, not “doing” centered.

Secondly, I found what I needed in a word by Alexander Schmemann, as I was reading Of Water and the Spirit during Lent last year. It says it all for me… well maybe not all, as you’ll see in a minute. But this quote by him changed the way I started each day.

…that he may remain faithful to his baptism, living by it, making it always the source and the power of his life, a constant judgment, criterion, inspiration, rule of life.

Alexander Schmemman, Of Water and the Spirit

I will explore this more in our journey through Lent (if you stick around for that). The pastoral schools led by Leanne Payne, were, from her perspective, a school of baptism; a preparation for and an affirmation of our baptisms! And they truly were. In some liturgical traditions, this is what the season of Lent is about: helping prepare converts for baptism (which happens on Easter). And I thought – what a way to approach Lent! To spend those weeks affirming my baptism by asking the question – “how will I live out my baptism today?” I’ve been trying to do that on a regular basis throughout the whole year. But “Into Our Bones” for the season of Lent will pursue this in a very intentional manner.

Last year, sometime around June or July – I felt I had a sense of what God was calling me to do in creating a rule of life. I had been praying and reading – and found a few scriptures that were really relevant to the season I was in. (Some people take one word for the whole year – and it becomes something like a rule of life). I had a few quotes, a prayer, and a few questions. As I approach 2024, I’m finding it easier to formulate something that will serve as a signpost for my journey through the year. I’ll share them here.

Schmemann’s quote on baptism is right up there for me. As I ask the question (daily, weekly??) “how will I live out my baptism today?” I know it will include confession, repentance, forgiveness, joy, death, resurrection! So many things…

I’ve also been led to a Scripture passage for 2024 – 2 Peter 1:3 – His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence… (ESV) I know for me I desire to live more fully from Christ’s incarnation in me!

I’ve found a quote that is meaningful to me:

Above all else, trust in the slow work of God.

Pierre Teilhard

And then a prayer – Give me a grace that precedes, follows, guides,
sustains, sanctifies, aids every hour,
that I may not be one moment apart from thee,
but may rely on thy Spirit to supply every thought,
speak in every word, direct every step,
prosper every work, build up every mote of faith,
and give me a desire to show forth thy praise;
testify thy love, advance thy kingdom.
I launch my bark on the unknown waters of this year, with
thee, O Father, as my harbor,
thee, O Son, at my helm,
thee, O Holy Spirit, filling my sails.
                        The Valley of Vision (a compilation of Puritan Prayers), Arthur Bennett.

A word God gave me at Cedar Springs last year was about how He wanted me to use the years left to me (I know… I’m not that old!) My calling in this season of life is to share the wisdom God has carved out of me (carved into me) through His sanctifying work – whether in joy or sorrow, suffering or peace, absence or presence. Identifying your calling in the season you are in provides a great signpost not only to your intentions but to the decisions you make about how you spent your time, your resources.

And finally, this question has been on my heart for the last few years – Dealing with chronic pain, being prayed for, being willing to be prayed for when the answers have not gone the way I’ve wanted, have made me wrestle with this question: “What is the posture toward pain that God is calling me to?” It’s an unsettling, deep and profound question because I have to approach it in honesty and humility. It causes me to “reason together with the Lord” (Isa. 1:18).

Let me summarize -a rule of life is simply a way to stay aligned with what God is calling you to become, not a way to measure what you’ve done. It’s a marker, a signpost. It can include all measure of things. A question, a song, a Scripture, a prayer… Whatever God leads you to! I have found there is no end to the resources out there. I’m reminded of part of St. Patrick’s Breastplate. It would make a great signpost or rule of life.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.


I could say more, but I won’t! Let me leave you with this as you consider a rule of life, and I’m including myself in it.

May it start in us through the song God has sung over us through all our days. May it spring from a place of hunger, and a desire for transformation that can only result in our becoming like Him. May we be resolute in casting off any hindrance, any sin, any relationship that inhibits His sanctifying work in us. May we live out our baptisms every day. From the moment we wake up to the moment we fall asleep may we remember to take our place in His death and in His resurrection – through prayer, through confession, through practicing His presence, through virtue, and through love.