pat loughery

From Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction by Margaret Guenther

In writing my summary of this book I found a section that is really helpful to me as I’m formulating my own Way of Life. I’m writing this partly for the class that I most recently took, but mostly as part of my participating in the Community of Aidan and Hilda; I’ll write more about my own journey with this Rule here along the way.

In this book, Guenther is discussing spiritual direction, and in particular in this section of the book, the way that a director must function as a good teacher of spirituality. She writes,

There are so many avenues [to praying more helpfully] – praying imaginatively in the Ignatian way or following the author of The Cloud in imageless prayer; praying with the aid of icons, crucifixes, candles and rosaries; praying standing, sitting, kneeling, and prostrate; praying through keeping a journal; praying the Jesus Prayer of the Heart; letting Scripture speak to us through the method of lectio divina. It is a rich feast, and it is important for the [spiritual] director to be sparing with suggestions. Too much at once is an excessively lavish buffet at which spiritual indigstion and spiritual gluttony are both real dangers. (p. 72)

Prayer practices are of course a portion of how we choose to order our life, but many of us seek to organize more of our spiritual practices. Guenther writes,

People also come to spiritual direction seeking aid in formulating a rule of life.[…]

A good rule goes beyond the narrowly devotional. if we are to be whole people, it must be more than a schedule for our visiting hours with God […]

There is a common tendency to try to take on too much, to try to live a monastic life amidst the stimuli and pressures of the everyday late twentieth century world. Instead of retreating to a quiet oratory for morning prayer, many people begin their day with an hour on the interstate or in crowded public transportation. Can the rule of life be adapted to turn a commute into a place and time of pryer? How does one manage extended periods of contemplative prayer when there is a new baby in the house, or perhaps a few toddlers underfoot as well? A rule of life for people living in families, where each member is at a different place spiritually, calls for creativity and flexibility. And most of us live with the absence of community support; it is a painful fact that seriously observant Christians are in the minority in our society.

Someone once likened a rule of life to a rose trellis. Its purpose is to support, to set us free from the tyranny of “shoulds” and “oughts”, in other words, to set us free for growth. As such, it is an instrument to be used and adapted, rather than a monument carved in stone.

A good rule deals with traditional matters of devotional practice, but goes farther to encompass the stewardship of energy, creativity, and time. (p. 72-73)

Later, the author brings this helpful challenge:

Finally, there needs to be a provision for sheer fun. It was a joyous insight when I realized that in Middle English “silly” meant blessed,” cognate with the modern German selig. So I find myself asking directees, “What have you put in this rule for fun? Where is the blessed silliness in it?” (p. 75)