Father Tony’s Letter to the
Trinitarians – “Rules of Life”
July 2012
Winston
Churchill is famously quoted as saying, “My rule of life prescribed as an
absolutely sacred rite: smoking cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before,
after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.”
The
idea of a rule of life, a set of
practices and observances with which we seek to order our lives on a
day-to-day, or even hour-to-hour basis, is at the basis of all monastic life
and programs of spiritual growth. A
Rule of Life establishes a rhythm in our daily activities
conducive to opening up to the Holy Spirit and its healing and transforming
power. Understanding the difference between
Law and Grace, the mystics and spiritual directors who developed such rules for
communities recognized that they are simply means to an end, tools in a larger
kit of life growing from and into the Great Mystery, and not an end in
themselves. A Rule of Life, whether
communal of personal, should help us to feel the love of God
more, and should never be a mere technique or trick for supposedly earning
points with God or impressing others. Thus the traditional term “rule” here may be
misleading. It is more like a rhythm or
musical score, a course curriculum, or a strategy for change and progress.
July
11 is the Feast Day of St. Benedict of Nursia, the author of the Rule of St. Benedict, the charter for
most monastic life in the Middle Ages. Benedict was from
a noble family, and as a university student made the decision to leave his life
behind to live in the faithful poverty, prayer, self-supporting work, and
loving service he saw the Jesus of the Four Gospels calling us all
to. His twin sister Scholastica became a nun.
The Rule’s basic approach to life is summarized thus by a modern
writer: “Live this life and do whatever
is done in a spirit of thanksgiving. Abandon attempts to achieve security, they
are futile. Give up the search for wealth; it is demeaning. Quit the search for
salvation; it is selfish. And come to comfortable rest in the certainty that
those who participate in this life with an attitude of thanksgiving will
receive its full promise.” (John McQuiston, Always
We Begin Again: The Benedictine Way of Living, pp. 17-18)
Christians living in today’s world have many means of adopting
appropriate rules of life. Practices can be as simple as a commitment to
give on a regular basis a certain amount to the poor or the Church (some give 10%
of their income, the biblical “tithe”), or a commitment to a regular schedule
of prayer and meditation. The reciting
of Daily Morning and Evening Prayer (pp. 74-136 of the Prayer Book) might be a
difficult starting place. The more
simple “Devotions for Individuals and Families” (pp. 136-40 BCP) perhaps is an
easier starting commitment. More focused
and community-based commitments include participation in regular retreats,
spiritual direction, and affiliation as associates with such groups as the
Cowley Fathers (the Society of St. John the Evangelist), the Order of St. Julian
of Norwich, the Order of St. John the Evangelist, or the Third Order of St.
Francis.
A good starting point for designing a personal rule of life is
found at
www.cslewisinstitute.org/webfm_send/338 . A list of
Episcopal/Anglican religious orders, many of which accept lay associates or
oblates, is found at
http://anglicansonline.org/resources/orders.html .
In upcoming forums
and Christian Education classes in the fall, we hope to explore with you the
riches of personal and communal Rules of Life.
--Fr. Tony+
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