A Rule of Life: Rhythms that Center
John 6
“When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”
Reflection: A Rule of Life: Rhythms that Center
“When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” I grew up in a united Methodist church and I don't remember a single Sunday School coloring page about the day that folks attempted to take Jesus by force and make him King. If you do, congratulations. Honestly, I didn’t notice it until four years into my work as a pastor and that’s even after a year of New Testament in seminary.
It’s easy to miss, Chapter Six of the Gospel of John is full of Epic moments. This little verse is sandwiched between moments that steal the scene with out even trying.
The beginning of this chapter is about Jesus on the hillside teaching thousands and it’s time for the folks to go home and eat. The disciples look at their watches and trying to give subtle hints (I imagine) and then at long last they remind Jesus that the people need to eat so call it a day. But Jesus looks at the disciples and is like “YES and we’re gonna set out a buffet.” The disciples remind Jesus, “We don’t have a catering contract, you didn’t arrange this in advance. This is unfair, Jesus, we didn’t sign up for it, it was not a part of the plan.” Jesus does not care and is not dissuaded. The accountant disciple responds, “It would take all of us working for six months and even then the buffet would be kinda sparse.” Then a child with his ancient mediterranean bento box that was packed by his Mom shows up with two fish and a few loaves of bread and Jesus takes it and breaks it open. The whole community eats in abundance. The miracle is everyone shares, this vulnerable child shares his small gifts and so everyone else does too.
People felt something powerful, they want more of this because this “When Jesus realized they were about to come and take him by force to make him King.”
To make matters even more difficult for this tiny verse attempting to make its powerful point, right after Jesus comes down from the Mountain he walks on water. The storm is raging, this moment of stilling, this moment of sensing Jesus moving on the water in a way that is so unfathomable. No wonder this little verse gets kinda missed. But “Jesus withdrew” and he does that all the time, if we’re honest. If we look through all of the gospels. He makes space to pause and to pray, they make space to go to the synagogue and to worship. They make space for the spiritual life, over and over and over. The beginning of the gospels talk about Jesus being baptized and going into the wilderness and discerning and clarifying his mission and who he is and how he will be in the world.
And so in this moment where the crowd says “we like this guy, we want him to be in charge,” he doesn’t listen or negotiate. He’s not seduced by the idea of power, he doesn’t even try to teach them differently or use this crowd energy to extend his impact. He just leaves. “This is not who I am, this is not for me.” He knows at the center of how he wants to be, who he wants to be in the world and when it isn’t that he pauses and finds his center again.
I think this story invites us to our own work of centering, our work of of knowing who we are and figuring that out if we’re not quite sure. But this is a challenge. We don’t grow up in a culture that’s like “let’s figure out your gifts and understand your true center” until you are about to graduate high school and then you have to have it all figured out. I have often understood this by running into those moments that don’t feel right, maybe you have too. When the space or place or mission or team is not lining up and the gut says “Oh… Something it wrong here.” Maybe you’re not a gut person like me and you get a headache or tension or your back starts aching and something where the body says, “Hey, LADY every cell of you being knows you need to do something different here.” (maybe that is just mine.)
Centering and knowing yourself and being whole, is actual work. And it’s not just for when you need it, it’s for all the time. It’s a spiritual practice. And just like we send kids to practice ballet or soccer or cross country or whatever folks want to practice. You need the scales to be able to play your instrument. Spiritual practices are about intentional living and we will get out of them what we put into them.
St Benedict is not our contemporary by any stretch of the imagination. As a Sixth Century Abbot, he develops a lay community with a Rule of Life. The word “RULE” may ruffle some of our feathers but I don’t think he means it like a rule to keep folks quite or compliant or oppressed. It is a rhythm inviting us to live and live well. And while Benedicts rule may have involved a bit of Plagiarism from a Celtic Abbot and influence from desert monastics and a bit of literary embellishment from an early Pope named Gregory. His work is revolutionary and spreads to all of the places the Roman’s are spreading, the Celtic people, the Germanic Tribes, the Anglo-Saxons, the Franks and Gauls. And so whether its totally Benedicts rule or not it becomes a grounding place for spiritual community in Europe.
The supreme value of the Rule centers on hospitality. That we should greet one another as we would greet Christ. Early monastics, they left people and community. They went to the desert and became hermits. “People are hard, so I’m out.” But folks like Benedict respond, “Yeah, people are hard. Being with people is a spiritual practice.” Seeing Christ in folks, especially if it is challenging, is meaningful. St. Benedict offered hospitality with the hope of welcoming Christ. And if that seems a little much to you and you need to work your way up to that, imagine some one else. Greet that person at the door like they are Dolly Parton or Lizzo; or it’s Dolores Huerta and you want her to be your Fairy-God-Organizer. Pick a VIP and treat everyone, everyone like they are the most honored guest. That’s hospitality.
Benedict also has a value of stewardship, and it may be different from the ways that we as modern folks at Urban Abbey talk about stewardship. They lived and worked in the Abbey, all together where we give our shared resources to fuel the Abbey. The sweetest expression of this stewardship is in treating the tools for farming with the same reverence as the chalice at the table. For us that might be the Espresso machine and its not about the machine or the tool or even the chalice its the fantastic realization that every thing and every act is sacred. Which leads to what is most radical about Benedict, everyone in his community did manual labor. It didn’t matter if you were the most educated or the least, everyone labored and with intention in the Abbey. This is where he is radical, because as a Roman, that kind of work, manual labor, was reserved for those who were enslaved or those who were servants. No one wanted to do it and here Benedict points to it as sacred.
His rule seeks balance, of labor and rest, of private prayer and communal worship. There was a rhythm through the day for prayer and labor and practice and rest and reading and meals. This rhythm of the day follows the cycles of the sun and the moon, it honors our bodies and invites a whole life. Which is why I think 1,500 years later his notion of a rule of life lives on in new ways.
Dr. King had a rule of life for folks in movements with him. The rule of life for his demonstrators included”
Meditate daily on the teaching of Jesus.
Remember that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.(And since I like winning, that’s a hard rule.)
Walk and talk in a manner of love for love’s sake. For God is love.
Pray daily to be used by God in order that all might be free.
Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
Seek to perform regular service to the world.
Refrain from violence of fist, tongue or heart.
Strive to be in good spirit and bodily health.
Follow the directions of the movement and the captains of the demonstration.
Change takes discipline, Change for people and community is powered by intention. Maybe a rule of life is pretty radical. Modern folks have corporate or communal rules and there are people who create individual rules, ways of incorporating discipline. Like Dorothy Day the founder of social work she took the eucharist daily, she read the Bible and she kept a journal, as her primary avenue of prayer.
I wrote a rule of life in seminary. It is super elaborate, very pretty. I wrote it in the shape of a tree with roots and branches and it is totally aspirational. There is not one day when I have actually y followed it. 27 year old Debra was very optimistic and not very realistic. I imagined hours of study and reading and hours of serving and connecting. And hours and hours of exercising and walking and praying and centering prayer even - even though I knew that didn’t really get my heart on fire. I already knew that every time I try centering prayer I fall asleep, but I put it on there as a daily practice, like I should just fight my way into this practice that everyone else likes. I can’t even get through books on centering prayer and when we were getting ready for a spiritual retreat with other clergy, I said if we are going to sit on a pillow for an hour and listen to singing bowls I am out, sorry if you were hoping I was a little more holy, but I just am not, at least not in that way. These practices didn’t really set my heart on fire or center my soul. My beautiful, aspirational rule of life never actually worked. Except that it reminded my I like drawing trees even with words of prayer woven through the trunk and roots and branches.
If a rule of life is something that you are considering creating; think about what is reasonable. What is realistic? While we may have choices around our schedules and work hours or course load in some ways there may be times in life where we do not. Parents of small children or folks who are caregivers for aging parents or partners may not have time to pray and read for an hour, then walk a labyrinth and do 30 minutes of centering prayer.
Marjorie Thompson, The author of Soul Feast, writes that if you are creating a rule of life consider these questions:
What am I deeply attracted to and why?
Where do I feel God is calling me to stretch and grow?
What kind of balance do I need in my life?
It would be wise to pick what can really fit and what makes every tool of everyday life sacred, just like Benedict. Maybe you are not a farmer treating the shovel with the reverence of the communion chalice but perhaps your computer keyboard or dinner table or classroom or coffee bar are the places where little spiritual moments can center you over and over and over. What really opens you up and what needs protected time, even if its 20 minuets. Maybe instead of centering prayer it might be sitting down with watercolor paints and praying for people you love with each brush stroke. It might be journaling, it might be writing a word of gratitude at the end of the day that roots you, it might be a short meditative phrase or yoga, or drawing trees where every prayer is written into the roots and branches.
The final piece of this is accountability, who will help you stay faithful to the intentions you set. Maybe with someone you can trust to ask hard questions in love, to check in with you when you need it or maybe its a small group that will ask you, “How is it with your soul?"
The Rhythm of life tool for centering ourselves but it is not selfish. It is a tool for practicing how we live together and how we live individually that flows into community. See, Jesus’ work of centering is not just about him feeling really good about himself. His work of centering is all about how he engages the world with the gifts that he holds. He centers so he can show up in love.
May we have the courage, Amen.