With this in mind, I've been reading around the topic of the Rule of St. Benedict. I'm curious about the connection between a healthy suburban spirituality and the monastic way of life. My big question is, "what would it look like to have a suburban rule of life?"

What I don't want is a prescriptive list of requirements and duties that someone must perform. This is what frustrates me and most other people about organized religion. Often the word "rule" can be construed in that way. But, really the term "rule" (regula) is more better defined as a "guidepost" or "railing." What I like about Benedicitine Spirituality is this is the focus. Joan Chittister writes,

"The rule of Benedict is more wisdom than law. The Rule of Benedict is not a list of directives. The Rule of benedict is a way of life. And that's the key to understanding the Rule. It isn't one."

The thing I like about the Rule of Benedict is also that it is not about getting out of the world and isolating yourself from reality so you can focus on God. Rather, it is about living well and aware in the daily.

Chittister writes again in the book Wisdom Distilled from the Daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today writes,

"Spirituality is the way in which we express a living faith in a real world. Spirituality is the sum total of the attitudes and actions that define our faith" and later she writes, the Rule of St. Benedict is designed for ordinary people who live ordinary lives."

Later she writes a paragraph that cuts right into the typical suburban christian's way of life,

"Today, too, people go faithful from church to neighborhood week after week and, then, between times give themselves entirely to making money, and being nationalistic, and having fun. In the meantime, Lazarus again waits hungry for the Christians of this time to notice his deprivation and stoop down to listen to him as the Lazarus of the gospel story waited in vain for help from the wealthy and pious..."

We are all guilty of being so caught up in a default way of life that isn't out rightly evil, but is destroying our souls and our witness. What we need is to fashion a way of life that is contstantly reminding us to be present to the moment in front of us, be presetn to the person in front of us, remind us that we are part of the People of God who are here as witnesses to a risen Messiah.

I'm finding that the Rule of St. Benedict is a good teacher for me as I seek to live life more aware of my/our calling...

I am reading this book by Chittister (which I highly recommend. On Tim Keel's recommendation I am also reading a book called A Good Life: Benedict's Guide to Everyday Joy
by Robert Benson a second time and we're actually reading this book together at the leadership team retreat we have this weekend. And, finally, I figured I would go to the source and I picked up a copy of Rule of Saint Benedict in English.

Any thoughts on a suburban rule?

a house,

a fenced in back yard,

a two car garage,

cable television with a DVR,

two cars for that garage,

and a job that pays me well but makes me work 50+ hours a week?

You get a person who has just lost all they had going for them:

Community and relationships.

Sure. They had nothing.

But you've just replaced nothing with nothing.

That's not much of an improvement if you ask me.

Mobs do things that individuals would never do on their own.

Individuals in mobs do things that that don't make much rational sense.

Individuals in mobs climb live electric poles and flip taxis.

Individuals in mobs also live well beyond their means.

Individuals in mobs work super long hours to provide for their way of life, but in doing so have no time for their kids.

Individuals in mobs believe that if they aren't personally effected by a situation the pain of others doesn't actually matter.

Individuals in mobs have their schedules decided by television shows rather than the rhythms of prayer, caring for others and community.

Individuals in mobs think that they will have more time to care for others when they get the next raise or when their kids get out of the house.

I don't know about you.

But I live in a mob.

No, it's not very violent.

It's not like I'm flipping cars or anything.

But it is flipping lives.

It's flipping my life.

And, honestly I've pretty much bought what it is selling.

And I'm done...

At least I want to be.

But, I'm not going to leave.

Nope. I'm staying put.

I want to start a new mob.

One that imagines a new way of life.

A mob that prioritizes community...Or at least is trying to figure it out.

A mob that radically cares for their neighbor. Or, at least knows their names.

A mob that spends itself on behalf of the poor... Instead of spending ourselves on consumer goods.

I want to start a new mob that looks deeply at its way of life and filters everything through our call to be witnesses of a different King and a different Kingdom.

A mob that keeps pulling me back, giving me grace and smacking me across the head when I start putting my feet too far into the other mob.?

Mobs don't form by invitation.

Mobs don't send out e-vites and event announcements on Facebook.

Mobs form because there is something worth forming about.

Mobs form because someone just won a World Series for the first time in 35 years.

Mobs also form because Someone said that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure buried in a field...

I'm convinced it is little ideas that change the world.

I'm convinced people who are sick and tired of playing by other people's rules change the world.

However, I'm convinced that I can't change the world.

I'm convinced that you can't change the world.

Not alone at least.

I am convinced that if we do this together we have a chance.

I am convinced that you and I can live differently than we've been told we're supposed to.

In order to do that its going to take reworking some assumptions that we've carried our entire lives.

I invite you, walk with me as we seek to re-imagine our lives as residents of a new mob....

To sum up, we may say there is committed to it the gospel, I.e. The good, glad tidings of Jesus Christ, of the real act and true revelation of the goodness in which God has willed to make and has in fact made Himself the God of man and man His man.]]> Sat, 03 Jan 2009 18:59:32 -0800 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1012561 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1008371 Last year I listed out the books I read in 2007. It was fun to look back over the year and see what books influenced me and shaped my thinking.]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2008 22:25:08 -0800 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1008371 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1005520

Reclaiming the Mission :: The Weblog of David Fitch

End of year missional linkage. Some great blogs on the subject from David Fitch whom I greatly respect.

(tags: missional)

kinnon.tv: What is Missional? or A Little More Missional Shampoo

I need to get me some missional shampoo! that stuff looks great! seriously though, this is a great post from Bill Kinnon on the concept of "Missional"

(tags: missional)

A Pastoral Week | Dwell Deep

Matt Chandler shares his weekly schedule. One of my goals this year is to continue to do a better job of scheduling my week, especially since i am bi-vocational, that makes it even more important.

(tags: pastor)

Some Christmas Eve Thoughts, Responding to Michael Medved, and Tonight's Message - EdStetzer.com

An interesting article from Ed Stetzer of whom I have much respect on how we can't make people say "Merry Christmas" who don't hold the same faith as us.

(tags: stetzer christmas)

Brackish Faith: Are you Mino?

Are you missional in name only? An interesting post....

(tags: missional)

broken//stained//glass: A Christmas Gift for Mohammed

A great post from my friend JR Briggs on talking with someone about Jesus with someone with very little understanding of the story of the Christian faith.

(tags: jesus)

Foreclosures Don't Spare the House of God - NYTimes.com

This is an interesting article on church buildings and the recent economic downturn.

(tags: church tithing)

]]> Mon, 29 Dec 2008 22:03:13 -0800 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1005520 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1003002 I've been reading Resident Aliens by Stanley Hauerwas and William Willimon over the break. Chapter four is brilliant. This year I have done a lot of thinking about the Church as a counter-cultural community. I think this is always necessary and I'm certain there is a desperate need for those of us in a suburban context to be intentional about re-imagining a life together that is in fact counter-cultural (in the way of Jesus). Of course, we don't have to re-imagine out of nothing, without any direction. We have the witness of Isreal, Jesus, the disciples, the church and a hope of a New Heavens and New Earth to guide this process (you know, all the stuff found in the Scriptures).

I've spoken about this idea using the concept of a mob in a post after I returned from Zambia in July.

Here Willimon and Hauerwas say it as well as I've heard it articulated:

Here [in the sermon on the Mount] is an invitation to a way that strikes hard against what the world already knows, what the world defines as good behavior, what makes sense to everybody. The Sermon, by its announcement and its demands, makes necessary the formation of a colony, not because disciples are those who have a ned to be different, but because the Sermon, if believed and lived, makes us different, shows us the world to be alien, and odd place where what makes sense to everybody else is revealed to be opposed to what God is doing among us. jesus was not crucified for saying or doing what made sense to everyone. People are crucified for following a way that runs counter to the prevailing direction of the culture...

See, I told you they were smart.

]]> Sat, 27 Dec 2008 23:06:32 -0800 http://virb.com/hiestand/posts/text/1003002