Finding Grace in the Routine…

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adults, children, church, God, life, patterns, prayer, relationship, routine, rule, serving, study, vacation

Photo credit: http://www.generationy.com/why-routine-is-important/

One of the early parenting lessons I learned is routines are lifesavers.  Whether it was trying to create a predictable bedtime routine, figuring out how often the child needed to eat to prevent meltdowns, or simply helping the child live into the routine of childcare and school, routines almost always meant that everyone was happier – the child and the parents.  As the second child has come along, I have certainly become more flexible, but the rule of routine still proves useful to us as a family.

So after ten days of vacation at home with our extended family, you can imagine how happy I was that the children would be returning to their routines.  We had a lovely time off and even the adults got regular naps, but there were also a lot of time-outs due to poor behavior.  The lack of a routine was making the kids a little out of sorts.  So by Tuesday of this week, I was so relieved to see the return of my lovely, beautiful six-year old.  I knew she was in there somewhere!

Though I single out kids, the truth is adults benefit from routine as much as children.  One of the consistent conversations I have with recent retirees is their struggle with the loss of a routine.  What at first feels like freedom can instead feel like a sense of loss.  Once they figure out a volunteer routine, a regular schedule of lunches with friends, or even plan periodic trips to look forward to, the retirees find a sense of calm and purpose.

Our relationship with God is like that too.  When we fall out of the routine of prayer, we find connecting with God more difficult.  When we fall out of the habit of going to church, we find our weekends are missing something valuable.  When we fall out of the pattern of regular learning and serving, we find our relationship with God is not as deep as might like.  As we begin a new year, I invite you back into the comfort of routine.  I invite you to consider what you might like to change in your everyday routine that might enrich your relationship with God.  It may be that you want to sit down and consider a rule of life you want to follow.  Or it may be as simple as deciding you want to do one thing – go to church more regularly, pray each night, or read devotionally.  Whatever the routine you take up might be, my guess is that God will be happy to see the return of your lovely and beautiful self!

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Homily – Psalm 1, Benedict of Nursia, July 10, 2014

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abundant, Benedict, God, homily, law, meditate, Nursia, Psalm, rule, scripture, space

“Happy are they who delight in the law of the LORD, they meditate on his law day and night.”  The psalmist tells us that those who meditate on the law day and night are like trees planted by streams of water, bearing fruit, with leaves that do not wither – and that everything they do shall prosper.  The image is a rich image – a tree planted near abundant water, with perfect produce and growth.  All we must do is meditate on the law constantly and this water and fruit will be ours – and everything we touch will turn to gold.

It sounds like a wonderful set of promises, and yet the promise hangs on one major task: to meditate on the law night and day.  Now I don’t know about you, but the only time I had to meditate on the law night and day was when I had an Old Testament final in seminary.  Most of us have full, full lives, and meditating on scripture is something we squeeze in  – if we are lucky.  We would love to be like those trees planted by water, and we would certainly love for everything we do to prosper.  But how can we access that kind of blessed abundance in the midst of our everyday lives?

Well, Benedict of Nursia, who we celebrate today, knew a little something about lives of meditation.  Benedict is generally known as the father of Western monasticism.  Born in 480, Benedict was disgusted by the life in Rome, which was overrun by barbarians.  His disapproval of the manners and morals in Rome led him to a vocation of monastic seclusion.  Others joined Benedict and he eventually developed a rule that has been used by religious around the world.  His rule structured the day with four hours of liturgical prayers, five hours of spiritual reading, six hours of work, one hour of eating, and eight hours of sleep.  His rule is intense and probably foreign to most of us, but his rule was also trying to create a life much like that tree in our psalm today.

The good news to me about Benedict’s Rule is that even Benedict does not meditate night and day – at least he gave his followers eight hours to sleep!  But both the psalmist and Benedict know that scripture gives us life.  Our invitation today is to consider how often we create space for God’s word in our lives.  The promise for us is an abundant, prosperous life of fulfillment with our LORD.  We are unlikely to take on Benedict’s Rule, but we can create a rule that fits our lives and invites that stream of water closer.  Amen.

Homily – Proverbs 2:1-9, St. Benedict of Nursia, July 11, 2013

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Benedict of Nursia, God, homily, insight, rule

When I was at Mepkin Abbey last month, I took a tour of the monastery grounds led by a volunteer.  At some point, she started talking about the monks and wondered out loud how they do it – cut off from the world, without even TV shows.  At first, I totally sympathized with her thought – I wasn’t sure how long I could go without texting, Facebook, checking NPR, etc.  My tour guide concluded that for her, the answer was that she could never do it.  But the question got me thinking about the monk’s motivation:  Though connection with others is hugely important to my life, what do I miss out on when my life is so full?

Benedict of Nursia had a sense of what was missing.  In the early 500s, Rome was being taken over by various barbarian tribes.  Benedict’s response was retreat – to be closer to God he had to retreat.  In the years to come, he wrote the rule that has influenced all of Western monasticism.  He structured the day around liturgical prayer, spiritual reading, work, eating, and sleeping.  That was it.  Simple and focused.  His rule became the rule that countless others would continue to follow.

Though I love monasteries, clearly I never chose to stay in one permanently.  I love the clarity and wisdom I have found in keeping the hours, but for those of us who do not live the monastic life, is that clarity and wisdom and insight unavailable to us?  Proverbs sheds some light on the matter.  The author gives us three “ifs”:  1) If you accept my words , 2) if you cry out for insight, and 3) if you seek understanding like silver.  If these things, then, 1) you will understand, 2) you will find the knowledge of God, and 3) you will be given wisdom from the Lord.  

Our invitation today is to figure out how to do these things in a setting that bombards us with distraction.  One gift Benedict gives to all people is the concept of a rule.  You may not follow his rule in his way, but we probably all need a rule to help us accept God’s words, cry out for insight, and seek understanding.  The abundance of this world is truly a gift – but if we allow ourselves to get lost in that abundance, we can find ourselves no longer longing for a connection to God.  Benedict and Proverbs assure us we can still find a way to God and insight, even in the midst this life.  Amen.