Fr Ben Garren

Dear Siblings in Christ,

What is a Rule of Life? This question seems to mystify many who want to make it something greatly esoteric. Today we celebrate the individual who codified one of the most famous of such rules, Benedict of Nursia.

Over the past 1,500 years numerous commentaries have been created drawing all forms of spiritual enlightenment from The Rule of Saint Benedict. What I want us to recognize is how much of the rule is quite mundane. It has expectations for personal hygiene, proper maintenance of one’s bed and sleeping habits, a plan for organizing one’s reading habits. There is, at points, little difference between it and simply a pragmatic daily, monthly, and yearly to do list for organizing one’s life around a certain goal… in fact that is exactly what it does.

If one has completed a degree program then one has taken up a Rule of Life amidst the overall list of expected courses, the syllabus of any one particular course, and then the various habits one engaged to complete all the assignments. One may have created a strategic plan for getting everything done or consistently waited until the last minute while turning everything in amidst chaos and prayer. Unless one planned to do things amidst chaos and prayer, some people know they do their best work that way, then only the person with a more strategic plan is seeking to go about a Rule of Life. Most people find that the maintenance of such allows them to live a more peaceable day to day existence and better focus their life of learning and enrichment.

The true question today is where is there intention and planning in your life? Are you organizing your life in such a way so that you are developing a greater love for yourself, a greater love for those around you, and a deepening love for God? When we set ourselves up to have balance, set expectations we know will support our wellbeing, and name our hopes and goals for the various parts of our existence…we have a Rule of Life. This is especially true when this rule incorporates our relationship to Jesus Christ more and more to every moment of our day.

Pax,

—Ben