The Daily Office
9 Days since last post. oops.
Man, it is hard to change one’s daily routine.
For the last 2 weeks, I have been actively pursuing this new Rule of Life that I have adopted. What has risen as the backbone of the rule is the Daily Office.
The Daily Office, that is daily time-set prayer, is one of the oldest disciplines used by Christians. The Psalms refer to it (e.g. Psalm 119:164), Luke writes about it in Acts (e.g. Acts 3:1), The Didache (the oldest Christian Liturgy) mentions it, The Church Fathers wrote about it (e.g. Clement of Alexandria, Origen and Tertullian) and move into the Roman Rite and Eastern Church to Now.
The Office I’m working from is the Celtic Office, found online at the Northumbrian Community’s website , a community devoted to living a monastic lifestyle. Being an ethnic Celt, I thought this one would work – plus it is free and introduced to me by my local monastic sounding-board, George Sweetman.
Devotion to the Daily Office is hard, and I’m only at 2 of the hours (there’s like, 7). What I have found is this: I’ve found that in adopting this rule, I’ve had to start going to bed earlier, because having to focus for about 30-45 minutes of day-starting is a tough task, especially when you are a night-hawk that works in the mornings. I think I might start doing this outside to help wake me up. But here’s the thing: structuring a daily life around set prayer times really helps orient your thinking. I’m someone whose first hour of being awake greatly influences the rest of the day. Every morning I finish my first hour awake with these words:
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.
May He bring you home rejoicing
once again into our doors.
Being well-rested and going forward into the world with these words around me really centers my spirit for the day. These words just hold me in a way that moves beyond cognition. It moves me beyond sentimentality. It moves me into vision.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on May 26, 2008 at 9:51 pm, filed under Life, Spiritual Disciplines and tagged Christianity, Daily Office, Prayer, Rule of Life, Spiritual Discipline. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Relative Morality?
I wrote this for philosophy class in my first year, first semester. Pardon the lacklusterness of it, but I want to see what people think of the argument. I am intentionally trying to prove something against Plato’s preliminary view of justice, and as such I want to make clear this is not necessarily what I personally believe. Can this be redeemed in any way?
Justice: Consequence and Form
We live in a society of conflict. There have been no governments, nor systems, nor rule, nor markets that have sought to make everyone equal in the eyes of everyone. In each case, there was always some form of someone being bettered at the expense of another. Instead of trying to avoid this reality, we must embrace it and make it our own. Justice is helping friends and harming enemies as justice is not a moral stance between right [friends] and wrong [enemies], but is, in fact, treating beneficial action with beneficial action and detrimental action with detrimental action. In doing so, justice helps refine the forms of the friend and the enemy in the life of the just man; making each further choice an easier step towards absolute choices in life.
In Plato’s Republic, Socrates and Polemarchus defined friends and enemies as, “The man who seems to be, and is, good, is a friend . . . while the man who seems good, and is not, seems to be but is not a friend. And we’ll take the same position about the enemy” (Plato, 334e10-335a2). I would define it thusly: the man who seems to be, and is, good to us, is a friend, while the man who seems good, and is not, to us, is not a friend. The same definition can be made for the enemy. Value judgments on whether someone is good or bad have always been viewed through the lens of the man making the statement. There are no actions that are inherently evil in themselves, but it is the motive of the man behind the action that dictates its value. To harm a friend for one’s own gain is clearly bad, while harming an enemy is a simple fact of dealings in life. One cannot be expected to relinquish his work and life to another who is out to harm him as well. To be a just man, you need not divine who is inherently good or bad, but simply respond in kind to the actions brought against you.
To illustrate the irrelevancy of the matter in terms of morality, let us look at two men working the same field. If a farmer, a grower of grains and vegetables, and a shepherd are forced to use the same field, each must, to the best of their ability, excel in their respective arts: the farmer must care for his crops and the shepherd must care for his sheep. This means that they will be forced to be at odds as the farmer will have to deter the work of the shepherd to save his crops while the shepherd must deter the work of the farmer to save his livestock. Neither are worse than the other, but are simply doing their respective work. One can go on to surmise if two men have friends in contract who are at odds, the men will help their friend, at the expense of the opposing partner. No one would fault the man for helping his friend, but in doing so, he has created an enemy in the opposing partner. Neither person is any less just because of this, but would fulfill justice by helping their friends and harming their enemies.
Moreover, by harming the enemy, you compel that person to become more hostile towards you, thus making him a better enemy. Because friends and enemies are not inherently moral or immoral, you would want to know who will treat you well and who will treat you ill, despite their intentions. In a world in pursuit of forms, you are helping create the form of the enemy and, in the converse situation, the form of the friend. By pursuing justice, you are refining the world around you to better imitate Plato’s world of forms (Plato, 584b12-584c7). With every just choice you make, you make for yourself an easier and more absolute just choice the next time you are faced with a decision towards friends and enemies.
The human being is given the ability to be many things at once: friend, artist, poet, enemy – the entire time being universally just to his world at large. Through helping friends and harming enemies, justice deals out the consequence for every action done to another and furthers the forms of the friend and enemy in life. In this fashion, the just man does unto others what is done to him.
Thoughts?
WK
This entry was written by , posted on May 15, 2008 at 2:36 pm, filed under Essays and tagged Ethics, Justice, Morality, Philosophy, Plato. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
My Lady Friend
Parting from the talk of spiritual discipline, I thought I’d talk about something that is much more pressing to me right now. What is more pressing than my own spiritual discipline? Well, my wedding, of course.
For the long-time readers of the blog, they may remember that for a time, I wrote a weekly column I called The Life of the Single Christian Male. It was centered around being a young man who was discovering the joys (and hardships) of being ok with being single.
Well, that ended a year ago last October(ish). I met a girl who was completely unlike me: mischievous, sly, super goal-oriented, and well-planned. And hot. Way hot. I fell in love. Now we’re getting married.
We’ve been talking a lot about the future (as we should), mostly career/vocation-wise (though twins runs a fair bit in both family streams it seems – yikes), and I’m pretty sure we’ve decided on the ‘taking turns’ style of life-sharing. In the coming two years, we finish our (her) schooling. After that, we’re going to do something cool, like work in an orphanage in Africa, if possible. Then, most likely, I’ll do a Master’s and get to work in a school somewhere so Christine can do what she wants, which at that point may be kids. Not sure yet. Luckily, we’re pretty fluid.
From time to time, I’ll be referring to the Lady Friend/Wife/Girl/Her Royal Hotness in reflective posts about life, and I’m debating maybe even starting the Life of the Married Christian Male, if she lets me talk about that kind of stuff. Point is, I felt that I should introduce this part of my life to the readers who don’t me personally.
This is Christine, and I love her.
WK
This entry was written by , posted on May 14, 2008 at 9:10 pm, filed under Blog, Life and tagged Blog, Life, Love, Marriage, Will Kinchlea. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
A Nightmare.
This was originally published in the 2008 Issue of the Canon25:
It’s dark. I squint my eyes to adjust to what is going on around me. I’m slightly disoriented, trying to figure out where I am.
I figure out where I am. I’m in the school. I don’t know how or why I’m here, but I realize something. I remember.
“There are rumours of dark things happening in the school at night, Will, and I need to know what is going on in there. I trust that you can find out the mysteries in the darkness.” The Dean of Students, George Sweetman uttered these words to me the day before. I found this strange, since I had only met him the day before, in orientation. Eager to prove my worth, I accepted his request.
I come upon a meeting.
I wait in the darkness as people begin to gather. There are 12 people gathered around one central person. With curiosity, I realize that the person is Josh Phillips, the Residence Director and the 12 are the Residence Advisors. Something is going on here, so I hide and wait and listen.
“You know the orders. Subvert, divide, and conquer. This place is ours.” The words escape Josh’s mouth in a strangely alien fashion, wholly disturbing, knowing the little I know of him. The 12 respond with sinister smiles and go off in pairs towards their respective dormitories. The Director melts away into the shadows.
I wait for a time, making sure that I am safe from being found out. I become aware of the fact that I’ve found my way into something that is far above my head. I can’t not do anything however, as the little time that I’ve spent in this place has made it dear to my heart. I have seen the young faces around me and I know that they are like sheep to the slaughter, not even knowing that they are being led as such by the 12 and the Director.
I wait until the way is clear and I make clear my escape.
***
“I can’t do anything about this Will. Not yet. You must catch them. You must stop them. I can prosecute them, but only after you give me the evidence to do so. Go, and reveal these 12 and their leader.” The Dean seems to be helpless at this time. I’ve been given the duty to stop this group…but how will I do it?
***
The weeks and months pass. Slowly, within the shadows, I show the School what the 12 truly are. Surveillance and traps won over six of them. Breaking into their rooms brought in three more. Spreading rumours caught two more of them. Finally, the final one had to be caught through the falsification of evidence. It was hard…but I had to do it for the betterment of my fellow students. Now, for the Director.
I send the Director a letter, taunting him to meet the man who destroyed his legion. We are to meet at 4am in the Cafeteria.
***
I wait in the Cafeteria. The tables and chairs are gone, probably due to some event that had happened that evening. I know not what, as I have been preparing for this encounter for the last 24 hours. The moon is full and its cold, old, reflected light pours in through open windows on both of my sides. The walls look a pale yellow. The room seems smaller than usual. My senses must be playing tricks upon me.
I see the Director walk into the room. He seems calm. If he is full of rage, he shows nothing of it in his eyes. His eyes, in fact, seem as cold as the old light in the room. This is not the same Director seen in the daylight. At his side, strangely glinting in the penumbral light is a very large sword.
I look to my own hand, and it also wields a sword. I can’t remember whether I’ve held it this whole time, or where I had gotten it, but I’m thankful for it in my hands now.
“So. You have down this, have you? Well, this is the only way to finish this. Only one of us will walk away from tonight.” the Director says his words in such a matter-of-fact way that it sends a chill down my spine. He raises his sword. We clash.
We fight for what seems to be hours, though it must only be minutes. I say that, because the light never changed within the room the entire time. All the while, the Director utters discouragements and taunts towards my face as the sweat pours down my face.
Finally the Director says, “Even if you destroy me, there is still another.” At these words, I become enraged. The Director stops his attack and stares at me. Without asking why he stayed his hand, I plunge my sword into him. The Director disappears and his final words echo in my ears. As the echo fades, another sound blends into the words and overtakes them. I hear clapping.
I look to where the clapping comes from, and I see a man walk out of the shadows. To my confusion, George Sweetman walks out of the shadows.
“Well done, Will. You have done everything I asked of you.” George smiles oddly.
“However, I know what you have done to do so. You have lied, stolen and framed people for your ends. You have even destroyed a defenseless man in rage. You have become everything I thought you would become.” George begins to clap once again. A horrific revelation comes upon me. Before I can say anything, the Dean speaks once again.
“Yes. I am the architect of this endeavour. The Director, as are the 12, is one of my many pawns. I have used them to get to you; to create the you that is now. You are powerless against me now. I used you to test my regime. You proved that those I had were weak and sloppy. I will get more to put in the spotlight, and I will teach them how to avoid the tactics you used.”
Another comes from the darkness. The Director emerges again from the shadows.
“You may be relieved to know that you did not kill Mr. Phillips. You destroyed a spectre, to complete your character. Mr. Phillips will return to his post in the morning, and he will have the evidence to destroy you in this place. You will be revealed as a liar, cheat, and a fraud. Your testimony will be nothing, and our plans will go forward. You are helpless to stop me.”
12 new figures emerge from the darkness. I am surrounded. I realize I am completely helpless to stop them; everything I’ve done is now swept away. George begins to laugh. It begins low and quiet, but quickly swells into a thunderous sound – something that fills the room so that it becomes the only sound I can comprehend. Covering my ears, I look up and George’s face is consumed in a ghastly parody of revelry. The 12 close in, and the darkness consumes me.
***
I wake up in my dorm room. It is the first day of Frosh Week, my first day of school at Tyndale University College.
This entry was written by , posted on May 12, 2008 at 12:07 am, filed under Humour, Life, School and tagged Dean of Students, Humour, nightmare, Residence Advisor, Tyndale University College, Will Kinchlea. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.
Will’s Rule of Life
So I just finished The Sacred Way, by Tony Jones, to point me in the way of correct spiritual discipline. After looking into the histories, theologies, and practices of different disciplines, I think I’ve found the ones I’m going to adopt. What’s more, I need to develop my rule of life.
A ‘rule’, for those who don’t know, is a set of precepts that guide conduct/action. The Desert Fathers, a formative group of Christian Ascetics situated in the deserts of the Middle East that lasted from the 4th Century A.D., until the 7th (ish) set out the Rule of the Master in which they espoused service, humility, silence, solitude and contemplation. The next most famous Rule is the Rule of Benedict, which some would say is the basis for all of Christian Monasticism.
So am I going to become a Monk? No. Certainly not. I’m getting married in 94 days! But I am going to start living an orderly life.
So far, the Rule looks like this:
The Rule of William Kinchlea.
Daily:
Every morning, I’ll do Matins (from the Daily Office – pre-written prayer, based on the psalms) and 300 Jesus Prayers. Every evening, I’ll do Compline (again, from the Daily Office).
Weekly:
I’ll spend at least 1 hour meditating and praying through an icon. During the Summer, Friday-Sunset-to-Saturday-Sunset Sabbath will be too difficult, traveling between 3 cities on weekends and working on the Wedding, so I’m going to dedicate 2 hours a day to not working. 7×2 = 14 hours – pretty much the waking hours of a Saturday. When the Summer’s over, this will change.
Monthly:
At least, once a month, I’ll walk the prayer labyrinth at St. John’s Convent, down the road from me.
—
That’s the structure in which I will begin my rule, starting tomorrow. If anything sounds weird in there (What’s a Jesus Prayer? for example), don’t worry, as I’m going to explain each one of these in time.
*NB* Now, Service is an essential part of Spiritual Discipline, but I want to discover what that service will be in time, through prayer. We’ll see together.
This entry was written by , posted on May 6, 2008 at 5:27 pm, filed under Life, Spiritual Disciplines and tagged Christianity, Meditation, Prayer, Rule of Life, Spiritual Discipline. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink.