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New Adult Class Forming: A Rule of Life? by The Rev. Hartshorn Murphy The monastic movement in classical Christianity brought together strangers from many different backgrounds to form a community. These communities needed structures and rules to endure. More guidelines than rigid orders, monastic rules were life giving articulations of spiritual truths. Although most of us today do not choose to live in monasteries and convents, each of us would benefit by developing a rule of life for ourselves and in relation to the communities we live in, work among or worship with. How might monastic traditions of "poverty, chastity, obedience, stability and conversion of life" be re−envisioned in the context in which we live? The Society of St. John the Evangelist, an Episcopal Order, has written: "From the very beginning of this movement in the church, there have been many of us who are not called actually to belong to a religious community but who have a deep sense of sharing in the monastic spirit and values. This is the phenomenon of ‘interiorized monasticism' to use a phrase of the Eastern Church." In her latest book At Home in the World: A Rule of Life for the Rest of Us, spiritual director Margaret Guenther invites us to see monastic rules through the prism of modern, contemporary life. She explores rules of life in the arenas of hospitality, solitude, dealing with enemies and friends, the workplace, money and possessions, power and authority, family and church and several more. This class, meeting on Sundays January 7, 14, 21, 18 and February 4 and 11 during the educational hour from 9:30 – 10:15 a.m., will invite participants into this conversation and, for those who choose to do so, to write a personal rule of life for themselves at the end of the class. The book, costing $16.00, will be available in the bookstore. (Scholarships available). The Sign−Up is on the patio. Copyright © 2007 St. Augustine by-the-Sea
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