Rule of Life

A Rule of Life is a tool rooted in the monastic tradition and it used take inventory of all aspects of our life, to create intentional goals, and to measure our progress toward our God-given callings, goals, and responsibilities.

The idea started by a monk named Benedict to help create order and stability for the monks in his monastery. He wasn’t the first to try such a thing, but he was the first to create a rule of life that was actually livable. So despite it being strict, it was helpful because it led to flourishing and growth for those in his monasteries. And there are still Benedictine monks to this day living by his rule for life.

If you feel like your life is overwhelmingly busy. Or if you are in a season of questioning and discerning your calling, especially as it relates to work. Or if you feel like you are doing things you don’t want to do and never getting to the things you actually want to do. Or if you feel like you have been in a spiritual rut and not growing, it can be helpful to press pause, take stock of where you are going and what you are doing in order to see if it is taking you where God wants you to go. Creating a personal rule of life is a helpful tool to do that.

It is just a tool, and it certainly isn’t the only thing you can do. You can go for a walk, call a friend, pray, lift weights, take a deep breath, journal. But some of these things might be habits you want to regularly incorporate into your daily schedule and rhythms. A rule of life will help you find a place for them in your already packed schedule… 🙂

That’s the gist.

We’ll spend a bit of time talking about what a rule of life is and how to put one together for yourself.

I should note I learned about all of this from a good friend and mentor named Steve Macchia who wrote the book on creating a personal rule of life. I’ll be using it to structure our time together. Feel free to buy a copy for yourself if you want to go deeper. It is very well done!

I hope you will consider coming next Tuesday, July 31st. Bring a journal or notepad.

If you have questions or want to let me know you are coming, email me. Thanks!