“Brothers and sisters... Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... ”

— ROMANS 12:1-2

Who are you becoming, today?

As human beings we are ever and always on a journey of becoming. Our life is the day-by-day, unfolding story of our FORMATION. The question is: What (or who) are we being formed BY, and what (or who) are we being formed INTO? There are countless forces and voices in the world that will vie to determine our sense of identity, value, trajectory and place, and these forces will ultimately act upon us whether or not we happen to be paying attention. According to a study by Duke University, as much as 40% of the actions we take every day are not a result of active choices we are making, but are the product of - largely unconscious - HABITS. Considering the role that culture, media, the marketplace and technology take in shaping the habits of our days (and thereby shaping US), Justin Whitmel Earley reflects:

“We are all living according to a specific regimen of habits, and those habits shape most of our life. A habit is a behavior that occurs automatically, over and over, and often unconsciously.... But just because we don’t choose our habits doesn’t mean we don’t have them. On the contrary, it usually means someone else chose them for us, and usually that someone doesn’t have our best interests in mind.”

- Justin Whitmel Earley, “The Common Rule”

Scripture tells us that we have been CREATED in the image of God, ENLIVENED by God’s own spirit, and that we are CALLED as followers of Jesus to live into the truth and joy of that divine image-bearing - called to resemble CHRIST - more and more with each passing day; by grace, rooted in love, through the invitation and empowering of that very Holy Spirit. The question is: how do our HABITS, the nuts-and-bolts “stuff” and structure of our daily lives, reflect this calling?

Rule of Life: A “Trellis” For Freedom and Fruitfulness

A Christian “Rule of Life” is a framework for approaching our journey of formation in Christ with intentionality, practically considering how our days and habits might lead us into deepening communion with Jesus. The most well known “rules” in history come to us through monastic communities, such as those established by Saint Benedict and Saint Augustine. While these historic, monastic rules might be a little heavy on the minutiae and overwhelming for the average, non-cloistered follower of Jesus today, their intent remains relevant: to aid the community of faith in daily growing in the way of LOVE: learning and practicing and abiding in the love of God, and love of neighbor.

The word, “Rule” - while afflicted with some baggage in our highly individual and freedom-centric culture ( I mean, who likes rules? ) - actually comes to us in English from the Latin word “regula”, which meant something more along the lines of “trellis”: a framework upon which tended vines could be free to grow and bear more and healthier fruit. As such, a “Rule of Life” is ultimately just a tool for building some healthy structure into our spiritual lives, a trellis for our formation, growth and fruitfulness.

To be clear: In gardening terms, the trellis can never be confused with the SOIL ( the unconditional love of God, in which we abide ), or the SEED ( the Word of God, written and incarnate ). Apart from these things, divorced from rootedness in Love, Word and Spirit, any “rule” will be just a dead frame, an opportunity for legalism and/or shame to develop. But, bearing this caution in mind, there is much to be gained in developing a plan for life-giving, time-tested spiritual practices for our journey in the way of Jesus, together.

An (un)Common Rule: Growing, Together

While we perhaps most often think of faith in individual terms ( i.e. “personal” faith ), our journey of Christian formation is actually never undertaken alone. Created in the image of the eternally “relational” God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - we are inherently relational beings; we have been created for community, made to understand ourselves properly, grow into maturity, and exercise our gifts in concert with one another. As such there is power to be found in a “Common Rule”, or shared foundational set of practices, across a community of faith.

As a collection of faith communities, The Commons has curated a shared rule (or “trellis”) of eight selected spiritual practices, organized under four “directions” of Christian formation, that we invite our community to consider participating in together.

Lord, teach us to pray.

"And (Jesus) asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for he has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” … And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”  

Mark 9:16–29

It is our conviction that when it comes to the truly entrenched evils and ills of our world, it will only be those bearing sufficient spiritual AUTHORITY - an authority conferred by virtue of time spent in the furnace of the Lord's presence, in prayer - who may hope to stand and face them in the victory of Christ, calling down resurrection and renewal. For the sake of our neighbor and our witness, may we be a people who are learning, day-by-day, how to PRAY!

Monday Morning + 6:15 - 6:45 AM (ZOOM)

For those joining by phone/audio only:

Phone Number: (929) 205-6099

Meeting ID: 863 5186 6849

Password: 834785

Wednesday Evening + 7:00-8:00PM (In-Person)

Rochester City Blessing Church

159 Rochester Hill Rd. Rochester NH