As you guys know, words are important to me. Words are important because of the ‘baggage’ they can sometimes carry. By baggage I mean the, (sometimes unintended) thoughts and feelings that a word can evoke. One example is the word ‘Christian’ which for many ‘unchurched’ or ‘anti-church’ in America today carries a negative stigma.
“Are you a christian?”
“Well that depends...
If being a christian means that I believe in the claptrap espoused by the ‘religious right’ (people on welfare need to get a job, war is good for America and God likes it, America is God’s new chosen nation, morality can be legislated, the only political issue God cares about is abortion, God hates homosexuals, etc.) then the answer is no.
If, however, by christian you mean am I one who has accepted Jesus the Christ as my Lord, Savior, Friend and Example for a life in response to the Agape Love of the Creator God of the Universe, then the answer is yes.”
This sensitivity to words and their implied meaning helps me to understand why the idea of a ‘rule of life’ can sound legalistic to many of you. The idea of living your life by a set of rules is akin to being under the law, and as we know (although Jesus the Christ ‘did not come to destroy the law’ He did fulfill it and will not erase one jot or title until He comes again) we no longer live under the law as they did in first century Palestine.
It is with all of this in mind that I begin the first installment towards developing a rule of life. As a way of introduction let me first dispel as many misgivings as possible by attempting to translate the idea of a ‘rule of life’ into current terms. Going forward, I will refer to a ‘rule of life’ as a PATTERN of life. I use the word pattern, because as I read/study the traditional monastic ‘rules’ from the middle-ages and how those rules are being translated into the neo-monastic context today that is the essence of what a ‘rule’ is/was.
A very brief and unscholarly history of the monastic tradition:
The scholars that I have read point to the conversion of Constantine as the beginning of Christendom and the flash point that began the monastic movement. When Christianity became the ‘official’ religion of the Roman empire, persecution for new generations of christians was no longer a way of life. [NOTE: I do not agree with the scholars on this next point -- especially since the scholars that say this are typically protestant evangelicals who do not have a catholic or orthodox background -- I give the Holy Spirit more credit and believe that these christians were led into the desert by God in order to renew /protect the faith from being intoxicated by ] This led some christians to seek other ways of ‘proving their faith.’ [Okay -- here is where I start agreeing again] The first of these christians to be named and considered the father of the movement was Anthony of Egypt.
Anthony was part of the generation of christians who saw first hand the persecution of pre-Constantine conversion and the Roman ‘civil religion’ that christianity became during Christendom. Anthony moved to the desert of Egypt in order to live a life of prayer and contemplation. Others followed and these people became known as the Desert Mothers and Fathers. People began to seek these desert hermits out in order to learn from them and adopt the ‘spiritual exercises’ that they practiced. Some also decided to stay in the desert and as these communities grew, they developed daily patterns of practice.
These daily rhythms of life were written down and became the texts that monastic communities used to pass down what they learned about living a contemplative life in community with other believers. The Rule of St. Benedict is perhaps the most famous of these traditions which were passed down in a community.
End of lecture...
From this I glean the following: in order for us to combat the fractured existence that we lead due to the myth of rugged-individualism we must live in community; and in order to live in community there must be a shared pattern. Consider the family as a type of community. Within the family there are certain activities which are deemed a “priority” and so the common life forms around those activities and those activities are not put off unless something that is a higher priority needs to be done. For example, in our family sharing a common meal in the morning and evening are important, so we have patterned our lives and my work schedule to ensure that we can share those meal times.
Do we occasionally miss a breakfast together if we stay out late the night before? Of course we do, but on the whole we eat together more often then not, because it is important to us and we mutually agree on the importance of this ritual as a family(community). I must also say that it is NOT the meal that makes this family the Ray family, rather it is the interaction that occurs around the table that forms the essence of our family. As we share a meal we talk: we talk about what happened that day, what we are going to do the next day, we tell funny/embarrassing stories about ourselves, we talk about interesting things that we learned, we talk about the other people that we encountered, AND most importantly; through the interaction we see into each other and learn more about who we are and how we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made.’
Here is how I relate my example to a monastic ‘rule of life.’ Within a monastic community, they have deemed that seeking a contemplative/mystical relationship with God through Christ is a priority; so they pattern their lives around the spiritually formative practices that are a priority to them. Consider the spiritual discipline of ‘praying the hours’ as an example. Traditionally there are seven ‘hours’ that monastic communities gathered for corporate prayer. This practice was important so they patterned their common life around it. When it was time to gather, the chapel bell would ring and all the brothers would stop what they were doing and gather. As with the example of our family meal, it was NOT the practice itself that mattered, it was the interaction/conversation with God and the community during that prayer time that mattered.
That is why I say a monastic ‘rule’ is best translated -- pattern. As we seek to become a community (in the deepest sense of that word) I pray that we will develop a common pattern to our lives that shows a devoted praxis to the beliefs that we verbalize as important to us.
In response to the valid concern of legalism...
I hope that his explanation can begin to allay any fears about the sin of legalism creeping into our pattern. I believe that if we, as a community, always remember that a ‘life pattern’ and the spiritually formative practices that we adopt are only a way to extract ourselves from the ‘hurry-up’ society that we live in and place our selves in a place where we can learn to hear the ‘still-small voice’ of God.
Consider these words from Richard Foster:
“Nothing can choke the heart and soul out of walking with God like legalism. Rigidity is the most certain sign that the Disciplines have spoiled. The disciplined person is the person who can live appropriately in life.
Consider the story of Hans the tailor. Because of his reputation, an influential entrepreneur visiting the city ordered a tailor-made suit. But when he came to pick up his suit, the customer found that one sleeve twisted that way and the other this way; one shoulder bulged out and the other caved in. He pulled and managed to make his body fit.
As he returned home on the bus, another passenger noticed his odd appearance and asked if Hans the tailor had made the suit. Receiving an affirmative reply, the man remarked, “Amazing! I knew that Hans was a good tailor, but I had no idea he could make a suit fit so perfectly someone as deformed as you.”
Often that is just what we do in the church. We get some idea of what the Christian faith should look like: then we push and shove people in to the most grotesque configurations until they fit wonderfully! That is death. It is a wooden legalism which destroys the soul.”
I hope these words give you an appreciation and eagerness to seek a ‘life pattern’ for our community. I will post more thoughts on what a life pattern could look like in the context of Trinity House, as I continue to develop them.
Mike,
This is a nice start. Thanks for sharing the fruits of your research. I'm looking forward to reading further installments. There are three things that I think are important in developing a rule: (1) that the rule be flexible. That is, that it does not regulate minute details of community life and that even in the "important things" like the daily office that there be flexibility in the "how we do it." (2) That a community be given the freedom and grace to grow into a rule organically. I think this is important in light of the "fractured existence" that most of us lead. If we move to fast, we run the risk of disentegration or implosion. (3) That the rule be an invitation. I think it is valid that there be higher levels of commitment required as people move closer to the "center" of the community but even then, I believe following Jesus is always an invitation, not a command.
Posted by: Cliff Knighten | December 05, 2005 at 10:33 AM
can't wait for more. .thanks for your considerable time input.
Posted by: paul | December 05, 2005 at 09:24 AM