Posted on

Healing the Human Heart

Our hearts need healing

“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. Go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”

— Jesus on the healing of the human heart (Matthew 9:13)

I hope that what I have been writing about the Rule of Life has been interesting to you. I do believe that it is an invaluable tool in the spiritual life. The last time I wrote, I talked about the purpose of the Rule of Life being to put God at the centre. I also talked about grace being central to the character of God.

In the next few articles in this series, I want to go a little bit deeper. And to go deeper, I need to talk about one of the central dynamics of the spiritual life: the healing of the human heart.

Continue reading “Healing the Human Heart”

Posted on

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”

Posted on

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”

Posted on

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”