Shirin McArthur

Dear Siblings in Christ,

Two years ago, I led an Advent retreat day at Saint Philip’s. Thirty of us gathered to explore and engage with the process of writing or refining a rule of life, which might seem like an unusual choice of topic for Advent. Nevertheless, it proved to be a fruitful day which generated a lot of conversation and connections—including with the Advent season and our familiar Christmas stories. In this post, I thought I’d share a few excerpts from the retreat.

First, in response to connecting a rule of life with Advent: We are starting a new liturgical year, and new year’s resolutions can be a helpful way to encourage us into establishing new and different patterns in our lives. Also, it’s appropriate now because Advent is a time of reflection upon the state of our spiritual lives (as is Lent), and this is one helpful way to approach that process.

Over the course of our day together, we explored eleven elements of a rule of life, seven from Episcopal Presiding Bishop Michael Curry’s Way of Love and four from the Society of St. John the Evangelist’s rule of life for their Fellowship of St. John (for affiliate members). I connected each element with my personal journey and/or our communal experience. For example, regarding worship, I invited us all to ponder the experience of transitioning to online worship during the pandemic and how that impacted our understanding of and commitment to communal worship.

My connections with the Advent season were varied. I noted that my prayer has sometimes taken outward, physical form, as when I made the Advent wreath pictured above, back when I belonged to a pottery studio called Feet of Clay. When I talked about the Rite of Reconciliation and repentance, I suggested that this is something Mary and Joseph could have used in repairing the breach that occurred when Joseph didn’t believe Mary’s story about her pregnancy having divine origins. I also talked about how the three wise men didn’t come to visit Jesus empty-handed and connected that with how we bless others with our gifts of time, talent, and treasure.

At the end of our day together, we blessed our new rules of life with these words:

God of love, bless these draft rules which our community has crafted today. Inspire us to honor them, reflect upon them, use them, and revise them as needed. May these rules encourage and inspire us in our desire to draw closer to you, this day and always. In Christ’s name we pray. Amen.

If you’re inspired by this process, I hope you’ll explore one or both of the rules linked above and draft your own rule of life for 2024.

Peace,

—Shirin

A version of this message first appeared on my blog on December 20, 2021.