Thurs. Feb. 17, 2022
Walk in Love
The Rev. Anne Williamson
Ways to Walk in Love – a Rule of Life
At a recent Thursday Healing Eucharist, I shared with those present (in person and online!) one of the practices my prayer partner Margaret and I had for a number of years. We would go on a day retreat each year, usually in Advent or Lent, and review our Rule of Life together. (A bit more difficult now that we live on opposite sides of the Atlantic!) Creating a Rule of Life may sound a bit daunting, something only for those living a monastic life or ‘saints’, but really it is an opportunity for anyone to take time to evaluate their life and prayerfully consider how to shape their life so that they might flourish.
The St. John’s Daily Reflections offerings last week from our Presiding Bishop, Michael Curry, included How to discern and live a rule of life and provided this definition: A Rule of Life is not just a list of rules. It’s an intentional commitment to a set of habits and practices that provide guidance, rhythm, and inspiration for living a beautiful, holy life. Especially today, our identity as church doesn’t come from sharing the same space; we are church because we share an intentional commitment to a particular Jesus-centered way of life.
The offer I made at the service to help folks create a rule of life is open to all!
I am always grateful for the opportunities to wonder together how we might travel as pilgrims on the journey of faith. As Lent approaches, I invite you to prayerfully consider joining in on one (or more!) of the offerings in Lent this year. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, March 2 so Lent is coming! We often think of ‘giving up’ something during Lent but I invite you to consider ‘taking up’ a new opportunity this Lent.
One of the offerings I am excited about is ‘Walk in Love…Belonging, Believing, Becoming & Bestowing.’ On Sunday evenings during Lent, from 6-7pm and Sunday mornings from 11:15-12:15 there will be conversations about what it means to be an Episcopalian, how we pray, what we believe and what it means to ‘walk in love as Christ loved us’ at St. John’s. This will not be a book discussion, but the book ‘Walk in Love’ will shape our conversations. We will finish in time to walk up to church for the Compline service at 7pm.
As I’ve mentioned before, over 30 years ago I joined a Lent group for the first time – it seemed a safe thing to do, after all it was only six weeks so a finite commitment – I could escape at the end of Lent if it was dire! The decision to join the group was life-changing for me, as I discovered the joy of meeting regularly with a group of people who were on the same journey, the journey of faith. How much better it was to travel together, rather than alone!
So, I invite you to ‘walk in love as Christ loved us.’ We walk in love as we gather to share our stories and God’s story together, travelling together on the journey of faith.
Blessings,
Anne
Ps. There will also be an opportunity to gather on Wednesday mornings for discussion on one of the weekly readings for Sunday followed by a time for Lenten reflection – stay tuned!