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.
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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. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.
Hey man,
I really like the idea of having a “rule of life.” I going to start thinking about something similar for my life. By the way, where’s the prayer labyrinth? I’d like to check that out sometime.
The Closest Labyrinth, for us, is at the Convent right beside St. John’s Rehab Centre on Cummer. Way close.
Why don’t we make an afternoon of it soon? I’ll book the labyrinth with the sisters.
Ok. So. I want to talk to you more about this in person cause I think I’ll be able to understand you better that way..or maybe not but anyway. 2 things…1) 300 Jesus prayers??? What in the world is that and 300 is a heck of a lot.
2) By having these ‘rules’ or whatever your calling it..doesnt it make you feel more ‘religious’ in the sense that these are things you are making yourself have to do all the time rather than just really wanting to do them? Like prayers for example. Doesnt that start to get so routine and repetitive and not feel very real?
I’m actually really interested in this. I dont think I personally could ever do it cause it would drive me nuts..Im not a fan of the whole routine thing..gets to me after a while. But hey, whatever floats your boat man.
Glad to see you blogging again.
Hey Nicole, I’m sure we’ll talk about this tonight, but let me answer your questions here as well, as I’m sure others would like to know.
1) Jesus Prayers – this prayer, “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy, a sinner,” is an ancient practice, especially in the eastern orthodox christian traditions, which has some very good merits to it. The prayer is repeated 100-300 times (with a prayer-rope to help keep count) for an average person (monks do more). The idea is that you impress that concept onto your heart through repetition, so that your day is consumed and put into the context of “Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.”
2) Here I think we have found what is probably the worst mistake within Western Christianity in the last 100 hundred years. By taking the disciplines out of our daily practices of worship to God, we become creatures based on feeling and we really let the ball drop in accordance to daily dedication and sacrifice of time, energy to the Lord. In doing the daily (written) prayers, I have been able to feel just as much in tune with God, than otherwise. The prayers give me a focal point to meditate upon. With the Daily Office, you are also reading different meditations and bible readings ever day as well, so there is some switch-up with it.
The Spiritual Disciplines are something that have to come to us from the Early Church Fathers and the Desert Fathers – we’re talking only hundreds of years after Christ – and they gave us our doctrine of the Trinity, the doctrine of the nature of Christ, and untold amounts of wisdom that we hear now, in different forms, in today’s churches.
I’m glad you asked!
Yeah man we could definitely do it sometime during the week…I am free on tuesday until the evening when D&D starts, and I am free wednesday eveningish, and also all day thursday. (Of this week coming) so If you want to figure out a good time, run it by me, and then we’ll book it and go for it, I’d definitely like to check it out.