A Rule of Life

I hope my loyal readers haven't given up on me, since I haven't posted in quite some time. I've been doing very little but working and writing papers. Even today's post is just one of the papers, but that's the best I can do for now.

I had to write a rule of life for one of my classes. More than a "rule" it's like a set of spiritual goals. It's somewhat personal by nature, but I decided to post it here.

I have always been a planner. As a kid, I was always scheming a way to go to my cousin’s, or to spend the night at someone’s house, or to go fishing. Later, I had a specific plan about how my life should go in terms of education, occupation, and so forth. To make a plan now about my spiritual development is a new application of an old tendency.
I have always done things on purpose. I seldom do anything “just because.” My reasons may be weird, the connections seemingly random, but I can usually explain the thought process behind many of my actions. My spiritual life has been one of the few areas of my life without purpose. To add intentionality to my spirituality is to bring it in line with my natural tendency toward purpose.
I have always framed my goals as “I want.” I want to write a book, kill a bear, be respected by my peers as a good minister, and to see my children grow up to be faithful. To frame these spiritual goals as “I want” rather than “I will,” “I desire,” or simple bullet points is to use my usual language.
I have always enjoyed time alone. I like to hunt and fish by myself, sometimes for as much as a whole day. So far in my life, those times of solitude and silence have been distinctly non-spiritual. After learning more about the benefits of spiritual solitude and silence, I began to intentionally insert a spiritual component into my deer hunting this fall. I want to continue to add spirituality to my silence. I want to learn more about spiritual silence and listening to God in nature.
I have always aspired to a life of simplicity and frugality. I don’t believe in credit cards. I don’t have to have new furniture or a new car. I hunt and fish and eat what I kill and catch. I make my own ground meat and sausage. I am intentional about my giving. I want to give more. I want to expand the simpler aspects of my life. My dad taught me many of these things, but not as a distinctly spiritual discipline. I want to be spiritual in my simplicity.
I have been a full time minister, and I expect to be again. Study of the Bible has been a part of my professional life for some time. Only recently have I begun to study for the sake of study, not in the course of lesson preparation. Meditation in my religious experience has been little more than the memorization of scripture. I want to study on purpose. I want to learn to meditate more effectively. I have been practicing lectio divina on my deer stand this year, and I want to explore this and other types of meditation further.
I have almost always been able to worship personally in the corporate assembly. To me, the purest worship is that in which the congregation around you disappears. I want to worship like that even more. I want to continue to worship well in community, and I want to teach others to truly worship within our movement’s worship style and structure.
I have always tried to pray. I understood Romans 8 as “the spirit helps you pray when your list runs out.” I knew instinctively that there must be something more to prayer than that, but until this semester, I never knew what else was out there. I want to expand my prayer repertoire. I want to pray the prayers of antiquity. I want to pray breath prayer throughout the day.
I have always thought that confession didn’t apply to me. Introduction to the practice of examen has led me toward confession as a discipline. I want to learn more about the practice of spiritual self-examination. I want to be intentional about searching my life for sin.
I have always sought spiritual direction and spiritual companions, although I didn’t have the vocabulary to call them that. I want to continue to seek a spiritual director. I want to learn from those with greater experience. I want to walk alongside of other Christians in community. I want to be in relationship with other hungry beggars with whom I might share a bite of bread.
I want my ministry to be shaped by my experience of God through spiritual discipline. I want my ministry to teach others how to seek and know God in ways outside our movement’s rationalist experience. I want young people to fall in love with Christ, and I want to guide them toward that love.
I have been a father for nearly two years. I have been a husband for nearly eight. I want to be a better spiritual guide for my family. I have always guided my family toward participation in corporate church. I want to encourage my wife to engage in spiritual disciplines, and I want to show her rather than tell her. I want to teach my kids, even at their young age, the importance of faith in God.
I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection. I want to share in his suffering and conform to his death. I want to pour out my life and be filled with his spirit. I want to know the joy that follows suffering and the life that follows death.

Thank you for reading.
Jason