We are slowly (or maybe it’s quickly, or really, at just the right pace) turning towards summertime. Here in Florida, in the intense heat and humidity, we tend to slow down. Although I don’t look forward to melting as soon as I step outside, I do look forward to slowing down and taking a break.

At the beginning of this last semester, my “Tools for Administration” professor asked us to create a “Rule of Life” for ourselves. I didn’t know what that was, but it sounded like a to-do list. I was wrong. I want to share with you what I learned and created. I’d like to encourage you to create a Rule of Life, too. Here’s an excerpt from my paper, and below that is what I created:

I was unaware, previous to this assignment, of what a “Rule of Life” was exactly. These words, from sacredordinarydays.com/pages/rule-of-life, resonated with me:

By crafting a rule of life, we become intentional about the forces and dynamics that shape who we are becoming.

As someone who relates to a Creating Spirit as the divine from which life is sparked and sustained, it made sense to center that spirit, drawing on the “forces and dynamics” that it can provide for each segment of my life. This shifted my initial approach of making a task list into a discernment approach in which I had to ask myself, “what is the Creative Spirit asking me to do?” and “how does the Creative Spirit call me to be around other people?”. This second question is my translation of the question “what is it like to be with us (the church community)” into something more personal– what is it like to be around me? Is it pleasant? Am I inspiring? Probably not when I’m tired, sad, overwhelmed, and having a hard time tapping into the Creating Spirit. Crafting a Rule of Life became less of a struggle when I was able to center that which sustains me.

Creating this Rule of Life started to grow a feeling of liberation within me. As I brought it to life, the sense of control over my aspirations was what freed me of some of the “stuckness” that living in pandemic times has imposed. Like most things that help bring me sparks of life, I feel compelled to share the process with my faith community.