As I entered this season of Lent I went back to my rule of life which I had decided on at the beginning of the year. I’ve written a bit about what a rule of life is. It’s 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 have simply included in my observation of Lent some of the decisions I made at the beginning of the year. I hope this serves as a reminder for you as well.
The question I try to ask each day when I start it is this: “How will I live out my baptism today”? The scripture that comes to mind is the passage from Romans 6:4-11:
Rom 6:4-11 –We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin–because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
I also call to mind the word from Alexander Schmemann about baptism and the rule of life:
“…to remain faithful to his baptism, living by it, making it always the source and power of his life, a constant judgment, criterion, inspiration, ‘rule of life’.”
And then from St. Patrick:
I arise today:
Through the strength of Christ’s birth with his baptism
Through the strength of His crucifixion with His burial
Through the strength of His resurrection with His ascension
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.
“Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God who raised him from the dead” ( Colossians 2:11b-12).
