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Grace and the Gold Star

Gold star award

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God— not the result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand to be our way of life.”

— Paul in his letter the Ephesians 2:8-10

I have been talking about the need to show up regularly by setting a Rule of Life at the heart of our spiritual lives. This can make it sound like the spiritual life is about doing a bunch of tasks every day. And that isn’t correct at all. What!!!??? Continue reading “Grace and the Gold Star”

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A Personal Rule of Life

Last time, I said I would reflect on my own personal Rule of Life. This is not an advertisement for what I am doing. It is rather the result of how I have worked out my own Christian pilgrimage over years. It works for me because I have lived in it and changed it organically. I used to have a complex Rule of Life, but it has gotten simpler over the years as I have shaped it to my life. It may or may not fit someone else’s. I only share it as one concrete example of how a particular Christian (me) lives out his Christian life.

Continue reading “A Personal Rule of Life”

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Growing in Love with a Rule of Life

a Rule of Life is a roadmap

The last time I wrote, I said that the best thing you can do to grow in your faith and relationship with God is just to show up everyday. There is nothing better than simple practices of prayer, study, and service that you commit to and do over long periods of time.

Christian Life Is About Growing in Love

Julian of Norwich, who was well known for her profound mystical experiences of God, points out that ordinary Christians, simply living a faithful life and learning the precepts of their faith, can be further along the path of love than she is, even Continue reading “Growing in Love with a Rule of Life”