REMEDY: Journaling Practice for Week Eight

Develop a Rule of Life

A Deeper Look
The Rule of Life will be introduced to us as we study the first Christian community. The word rule comes from the greek for “trellis.” A trellis is a tool that enables a grapevine to get off the ground and grow upward, becoming more fruitful and productive. In the same way, a Rule of Life is a trellis that helps us abide in Christ and become more fruitful spiritually.

Read

• Acts 2:42-47

Study

• Based on this one passage, how would you describe their Rule of Life? Describe the activities/disciplines they use to grow and mature in Christ.

Journal
Parker Palmer, in his book A Hidden Wholeness, uses the image of farmers in the midwest who would prepare for blizzards by tying a rope from the back door of their house out to their barn as a guide to ensure they could return safely home in the middle of the blizzards that came quickly and fiercely during the winter. If the farmers failed to make that line or would lose contact with that line during a blizzard, it often had devastating consequences. Some froze within feet of their own front door, never realizing how close they were to safety. In your journaling, consider these questions:

• What is the nature of your blizzard right now?
• What contributes to your blizzard? What does it look like? Feel like?
• What does the blizzard obscure? What gets lost?
• You need a rope to keep you connected to God. Notice that every rope is actually made up of a series of smaller, intertwined threads. What threads do you want to make up your rope (rule of life)?

-- adapted from Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Workbook by Peter Scazzero