Saturday, May 22, 2021

Katie Snipes Lancaster

Scripture: Romans 12:1
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Spiritual Practice: Rule of Life
Jenn Giles Kemper describes a Rule of Life saying, “A rule of life is a commitment to live your life in a particular way. It is meant to be crafted with prayer and discernment, in partnership with God, as you consider the way God made you and the values God has inscribed upon your heart. Once written, it serves as a tool that can help you make decisions for your life and determine how best to order your days.” You may have heard of “The Rule of St. Benedict” a communal rule of life used by those monastics who call themselves Benedictine. But the practice of designing a Rule of Life can be as personalized as your New Year’s Resolutions. It becomes a written reminder of how you intend to live. It doesn’t need to be complicated.

These instructions from the C. S. Lewis Institute are instructional:
• What disciplines and specific practices are you attracted to and why you are attracted to them?
• Where do you sense that God is calling you to stretch and grow? Where do you want to change?
• What kind of balance do you need in your life? Does your Rule exercise your thoughts, actions, and affections (head, hands, and heart)? Does your Rule contain both corporate and individual practices? Both inward and outward disciplines?
• If you could hear your own eulogy, what would you want to hear?
• Is your Rule realistic for you to commit to?

Ultimately, they say, “A Rule is not a bunch of things you must add onto an already busy life. The disciplines you choose should not only be realistic for your life but should also balance, help to prioritize, interweave, and impregnate your entire way of life, better enabling you to take your ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.”

Daily Prayer
God, help us to balance,
prioritize, and interweave
your presence in our lives
with simplicity and peace.
Amen.