Ways and Rules of Life

You're Not Listening. I don’t want to write this article.

I believe there is no way to provide advice about listening without sounding like a touchy-feely douchebag. But I’m going to write this article because there is a good chance that your definition of listening is incomplete, and what I consider to be obvious and simple ways to listen are not obvious at all. The problem starts with the word: listen. Of course you know how to listen. You sit there and let the words into your head. Let’s start with the most basic rule of listening: If they don’t trust you, they aren’t going to say shit. A Listening Structure First, context. Second, it would be easy to flip this article and make it a piece about healthy and useful conversations. Let’s start… Open with innocuous preamble. Your preamble defines a quiet, safe place where you and your whomever can transition from wherever you were before you sat down together to this new, calm place where intelligent and reasonable conversation occurs.

Drawn In: A Creative Process for Artists, Activists, and Jesus Followers. Troy Bronsink shows how the rhythms of God's creative work can be rediscovered through design thinking and creative processes.

By understanding God in this new way, Christian creatives are then invited to be "drawn in" to the creative, ongoing, divine work. Exercises throughout the book invite participation in God's life and redemptive rhythms. This holistic approach will shift how Christian creatives and church leaders think of mission, worship, collaboration, and everyday discipleship. “…A book that combines the passion of the Wild Goose Festival and the creative insights of Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way, with a dash of “new monastic” spirituality and a pinch of Brueggemannian theological sensibility… Great exercises.

Excellent for small group discussion “This fresh vision of God and ourselves draws us (rather than drives us) into a new way of being. “This is one of the finest books on art, creativity, and the nature of God to date. Sabbath Manifesto. Intentional Christian spirituality in a mobile and socially networked world. Pilgrim Principles: A Pilgrim's Rule of Life - A Sacred Journey. Our lives are governed by systems, whether we are aware of it or not.

Measured by our daily routines, our priorities, and our worldview, the systems in which we live determine both who we are and who we are becoming. However, just as a pilgrim sets an intention for her journey, engaging in her quest and opening herself up to transformation, we can be intentional about the systems that form our lives. Crafting a Rule of Life - Stephen Macchia [Review] A Review of Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way Stephen A.

Macchia. Paperback: IVP Books, 2012 Buy now: [ Amazon ] [ Kindle ] Reviewed by Jennifer Burns Lewis I am devouring books on Benedictine practices like they’re ice cream flavors at my local store. St Columba (521- 577) The Rule of St Columba 1.

Be alone in a separate place near a chief city, if thy conscience is not prepared to be in common with the crowd. 2. Be always naked in imitation of Christ and the Evangelists. Rule of Life - The Spirit of Life. If you find life offers too many daily struggles, without much focus or feeling of accomplishment, a Rule (sometimes known as a ‘Rhythm’) of Life, or a ‘Pathway’, could help you put things in perspective.

A Rule can be anything: it can be adopted from a particular religious order (Franciscans, Northumbria Community) or it can be one you have constructed yourself, possibly with the help of a Spiritual Companion. Central to a Rule, or Pathway, is the understanding that it is there to help our everyday lives. Like a trellis helps a vine or rose to grow, a Rule is there simply to offer the strength and support we may find we need in our lives to help us grow as individuals. Help like giving ourselves time for a break! The need to devote time to those things that help us in life is part of a Rule. But a Rule can also include those actions many find as add-ons to their lives but which you could find fulfilment: charity, for example. Rules aren’t designed to be burdensome. Incomplete Manifesto for Growth. The Rule - briefly. The Rule - deeper. Community of Aidan and Hilda – USA - Ten Elements of the Aidan Way. The Ten Elements of the Aidan Way of Life In common with many communities within Christianity we have three vows.

These are SIMPLICITY, CHASTITY, and OBEDIENCE which we understand as principles, not rules. SIMPLICITY means the willingness to be poor or rich for God according to his direction. We resist the temptations to be greedy or possessive, and we will not manipulate people or creation for our own ends. We are bold to use all we have for God without fear of possible poverty. 1.