Rule of Life / Rhythm of Life
“A Rule of Life” specifically refers to a written record or one’s faith intentions. Studies have shown that the physical act of writing one’s goals positively impacts one’s ability to achieve said goals. Kyle Norman
Gregg’s Reflection
In the Living School, we were challenged to craft a Rhythm of Life, the practices and rhythms that keep us connected and discerning God’s will and path. I like the term Rhythm, because Rule implies obligation. And the quickest way to derail these rhythms is to treat them as an obligation. (See my post on Freedom vs Obligation for more on this.) Here, I will describe daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual rhythms I articulated some years ago to keep me in sync with God and loving others more deeply to manifest the fruit of the Spirit.
But first, what do we mean by Rule of Life? Kyle Norman, in his post A Rule of Life: A happy plan for Christian Living, describes it this way:
In December of 2019, the Seattle Times noted that sales of daily planners and organizers rose to a whopping revenue of $386 million. While it may be tempting to see this as nothing more than a modern fad, I choose to see this differently. At a basic level, the quick rise of the daily planner undoubtedly points to a deeply-felt desire to be internally ordered.
Daily planners, and the discipline to articulate daily, weekly, monthly and long-term visions and goals were an important part of my career. From field sales, to sales management, to general management, I learned that I was much more productive with written goals. In this time, as I embarked on my spiritual journey, my quest was for peace in my heart, “a desire to be internally ordered.”
After all, given the constant flux and ever-changing nature of the world in which we live, is there any shock that there is an expressed desire to find a touchstone upon which one can order one’s life? Planning is not simply about jotting down the tasks of the day — it is about expressing a viewpoint, an attitude, a spiritual disposition with which one chooses to approach the day’s tasks and demands. Furthermore, the focus on goal-setting serves to beckon the individual planner toward that pearl of great worth of which they seek.
Although the motivation for my ambition came from the negative space of ‘not good enough,’ success flowed as I applied myself, set plans, achieved them and set some more. A vision at age 28 to walk away from our business at age 45 propelled my long-term goals.
My first exposure to the spiritual disciplines was Richard Foster’s book Celebration of Discipline. We studied it one of the first years I attended a small gathering of Christian Businessmen, which for over 30 years was a touchstone in my life. I remember his admonition that even spiritual disciplines could become idols. Decades later, as I began to read the mystical literature of the saints and mystics, I encountered the idea of a Rule of Life.
The attitude (dare I say spirituality) that lurks behind the adoption of these daily planners is quite old. Beginning with the Desert Fathers and Mothers, Christian people have found value in crafting a deep and holy order to their lives. The rule, whether it be an individual creation or one governed by a monastic community, presents a way of intentionality — a routine of personal rhythms and guidelines that give shape to one’s life of faith.
Importantly, the rule of life is not merely a thought about one’s life. “A Rule of Life” specifically refers to a written record of one’s faith intentions. Studies have shown that the physical act of writing one’s goals positively impacts one’s ability to achieve said goals. Proponents of planning would undoubtedly agree. It provides a written record of the life one is aspiring to live, thereby increasing the likelihood that such aspirations will be met. Writing a Rule of Life actually increases one’s ability to live out the intentional way of faith.
I spent three years studying with Robert Fritz to understand the structures that enable reaching our goals and visions, and dysfunctional structures that keep us from realizing them. My life and my business were built using this simple tool to create structural tension:
This means that a Rule of Life, while being a document to challenge and stretch us, needs to be workable. A Rule of Life must refer to the life we actually live in the here and now. Only then can we begin to see the places where God may want us to shift our perceptions or habits to more fully engage in his presence. It is also best to think of a Rule of Life as a fluid document. A Rule of Life is always changing, and naturally includes a certain amount of flexibility.
I began to articulate a Rhythm of Life about a decade ago. I finalized it as you will see it below as a Living School project in 2022. I was tremendously disciplined and recorded daily the disciplines as I did them for years. Here’s how obsessive I was:
I began to sense a shift a couple of years ago, and my spiritual director celebrated my moving beyond being so rigid in my approach. Today, I find spiritual writing my primary spiritual discipline. As I publish this blog, I am marinating again and again in the wisdom of the saints and the Scriptures accompanying the posts. One thing I still work to do every day is the Examine of Consciousness.
Our Rule of Life should hold out to us the life of faith we aspire to live. And live we must. We cannot remain eternally with intentions and desire. A Rule of Life cannot simply be about wishes and dreams; it must include actions and practices through which we will govern our spiritual life with God.
Kyle Norman
My Rhythm of Life 2022
Daily Rhythms
- Morning Devotion: Daily devotions from Richard Rohr, Henri Nouwen and Thomas Merton and Celtic Daily Prayer
- Bible/Spiritual Reading: Read a chapter of the Old and New Testament with study notes. Read from the Saints and Mystics, and Living School curriculum
- Prayers: Read my Prayers/Practicing Presence post and one other
- Examen of Consciousness: Think of the times in the previous day when I was aware of God’s presence, and times when I was distracted
- Morning Sit: 20 minutes of Contemplation at my home altar accompanied by Gregorian Chant
- Hour of Silence: Wrap my morning ritual in an hour of silence
- Time in Nature: Walking/snowshoeing/skiing on the mountain with the dogs. Times in nature reflecting, hauling wood, clearing snow, fishing, sitting by lakes and rivers, forest bathing
- Evening Meditation: Sit in a hot bath lit by candle while reflecting on the day just before bed
- Spiritual Writing/Journaling: Add to my Blog posts each day
Weekly Rhythms
- Worship: Worship in community, building relationships, learning with others
- Sacred Space: Participate in a weekly Lectio Divina in contemplative community
- Disciple Next Generation Leaders: Engage in five coaching/spiritual direction calls
Bi-weekly Rhythms
- Spiritual Direction: Connect with my Spiritual Director, continuing fifteen years of work
- Fly Fishing (Summer): At least once every two weeks
Monthly Rhythms
- Developing Spiritual Friends: Lunch at least once a month deepening friendships and creating soul connections
- Zoom with Living School friends: Once in Merton Group, Once in Teilhard
Quarterly Rhythms
- Extended Nature Time: Camp off the grid for days
- Fishing: Schedule weekend fishing trips with Andy for Spring/Summer/Fall
Annual Rhythms
- Fishing: Spend a week Camping/Fishing with Andy
- Five Day Trips with Family: Once with Andy, once with Florrie
- Visit Beautiful Places with Genie: At least twice a year
- Host Intensive for Coaching Clients: Once a year
Journaling Prompts
How have written goals helped you find focus and success? How might the disciplines of daily prayer, spiritual reading, time in nature, silence and weekly rhythms of worship and study with friends pay dividends in your spiritual life? Challenge yourself to write some goals for your spiritual journey for the next year.
Scripture
But whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season—whatever they do prospers.
Psalm 1:2-3
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Matthew 6:16-18
And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Hebrews 10:24-25
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16
Ancient Writings
The rule of life for a perfect person is to be in the image and likeness of God.
Everyone who longs for the continual awareness of God should be in the habit of meditating on it ceaselessly in his heart, after driving out every kind of thought. (Ancients saw thoughts as emanating not from the mind but from the heart.)
John Cassein, The Conferences, p. 329
The Rule of Life is thus a guide to living, and a handbook for the journey of faith.
St. Benedict of Nursia
Modern Writings
Religion should be the rule of life, not a casual incident in it.
Awakening the heart, or the spiritualized mind, is an unlimited process of making the mind more sensitive, focused, energized, subtle, and refined, of joining it to its cosmic milieu, the infinity of love.
Kabir Helminski, Living Presence
The contemplative journeys within, to discover that if you descend into the depths of your own spirit, and arrive somewhere near the center of what you are, you are confronted with the inescapable truth that, at the very roots of your existence, you are in constant and immediate and inescapable contact with the Infinite power of God.
Thomas Merton, The Contemplative Life, Dublin Review, p. 28
A Rule of Life is a way of ordering our life around the principles of the kingdom of God as we follow Jesus.
Richard Foster
Life is not a race; it’s a journey. We need to take time to reflect on the important aspects of our life and to follow a path that leads us to our true purpose.
Pope Francis
The greatest issue facing the world today, with all its heartbreaking needs, is whether those who by profession or culture are identified as Christians will become disciples—students, apprentices, practitioners—of Jesus Christ, steadily learning from Him how to live the life of the Kingdom of the Heavens into every corner of human existence.
Dallas Willard