Rediscovering a Rule of Life Today course
Rules of Life are patterns or structures within which we choose to live in order to be healthy, fruitful, flourishing Christians. They have been part of Christian discipleship since early ages, influenced and shaped particularly by monastic communities, and perhaps most significantly by the sixth century Rule of St Benedict.
Recently, we have begun to rediscover the ways in which shaping and trying to live by a Rule of Life can be transformative for all Christian people, lay or ordained, older or younger, at any stage of our discipleship journey. Rules of Life generally focus on finding healthy balance in our faith journey, considering how things like engagement with Scripture, personal prayer, awareness of the world around us, going to church and our own personal situation in terms of work, education or retirement can be held in a creative and life-giving equilibrium.
This short course will be delivered over four once-monthly online lunchtime seminars. We will reflect on some of the key principles of either creating a new, or refreshing an existing, Rule of Life. We will draw from the tradition, but not be confined by it.
Tom Clammer OC is a spiritual director and a novice brother of the Anglican Order of Cistercians. He has been living under that Rule for the last four years, which has excited him to encourage every Christian to consider forming their own Rule of Life.
Our four sessions will consider Balance and Equilibrium; Immersion in Scripture; Praying with the Church; Seeing Heaven in the Ordinary. Tom will record his input for each session (without the discussion) to share with any participant who is unable to attend one of the four.
If there were appetite after these initial four sessions, we might consider more follow-up sessions in the future.
Leave a Reply