Good morning…
At 3:22 am, I responded to my friend’s invitation to walk today: “In the morning, I will enjoy our peer supervision group at Ignatius House, face to face for the first time since the pandemic forced us to meet by Zoom, and, in the afternoon, I host my first class of women in our home since March of 2019, so today is delightfully full. If I feel breathing room in the late afternoon, I will let you know.”
Did you catch the sacred rhythm of this day unfolding?
“In the morning, I will enjoy, face to face.”
“In the afternoon, I will host in our home.”
“Today is delightfully full.”
Now in these quiet moments, I open up space for you to breathe beside me as we deepen down into wisdom from our book’s introduction.
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Excerpt from Sacred Rhythms: Arranging Our Lives for Spiritual Transformation by Ruth Haley Barton
A rule of life is a way of ordering our life around the values, practices and relationships that keep us open and available to God for the work of spiritual transformation that only God can bring about. Simply put, a rule of life provides structure and space for our growing.
The phrase “spiritual rhythms” is another helpful way of talking about this important concept, because it provides relief from some of the heavy-handed and rigid approaches to the spiritual life that many have experienced. This language draws on the imagery of the natural rhythms of the created order. The ebb and flow of the ocean waves and tides, which come and go steadily but are full of infinite variety and creativity. The predictability of the changing seasons but also the beauty and variance that captures us anew each and every time. The rhythm of a good beat, which makes music and dancing one of the most delightful and spontaneous experiences that we enjoy, yet mastery of the basic notes and moves is required if we are to enter into it fully.
The disciplines themselves (solitude, scripture, prayer, honoring the body, self-examination, discernment, Sabbath) are basic components of the rhythm of intimacy with God that feed and nourish the soul, keeping us open and available for God’s surprising initiatives in our lives. After we learn the disciplines, there is infinite creativity for putting them together in a rhythm that works for us and great freedom for adding other disciplines and creative elements.
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Praise the Eternal! Write new songs; sing them to Him with all your might! Gather with His faithful followers in joyful praise (Psalm 149:1, VOICE). Relaxing into the natural rhythms of life, we experience the ebb and flow of God’s infinite variety and cool creativity.
…Sue…
