A Rule of Life in Turbulent Times: Thursday's Reflection

The temptations are many and oh, so available --  24 hour news and commentaries on all our devices. 

We want to know what is happening, minute by minute, and we want to know what those in the know are thinking. And it is important to be informed, for these are turbulent times.

But how do we manage our day-to day lives during the turmoil? How do we maintain some equanimity in the swirl of the outrage so many of us feel?

Periodically, many of you have taken sabbaticals from the news or at least have prescribed a diet for yourselves, and that has been a good thing. That may have included not checking your phone for the latest reports the minute you wake up in the morning and the last thing before you go to bed. Perhaps, instead of having MSNBC or CNN turned on all day, you have limited your media time. And maybe you have agreed with family and friends to maintain a moratorium on politics during the dinner hour. 

All that has been good, but now...NOW we seem to be entering a new time, and the temptations are even more compelling. 

Here's a suggestion: Get up brush your teeth and make your bed. As you pull up the sheets, and blankets, and comforter, and fluff the pillows, give thanks for the night's rest, for the gift of another day and your ability to be in the day. Look out the bedroom window and give thanks for the sun that rises, the seasons that change our view, and the air that supports us. 

Too simplistic? Maybe, but now more than ever we need guidelines for living our lives. The monastics, such as the Benedictines, call it a Rule of Life that helps us "put and keep God at the center of everything we do." (Living Faith Day By Day, How the Sacred Rules of Monastic Traditions Can Help You Live Spiritually in the Modern World by Debra k. Farrington) If "rule" is too negative of a term, Farrington says, substitute "way of life," for example. 

A Rule of Life is not meant to trip us up or confine us or keep us ignorant or sheltered from what is happening in the world. Instead, a rule helps us create a balanced life, one in which the key relationship is with the Divine. That relationship when tended produces clarity, enhances energy, and opens our hearts. 

A Rule of Life encompasses all areas of our life--work, study, care of our body, hospitality and relationships, our spiritual community, and our citizenship and ways of seeking justice in the world. A Rule of Life encourages mindfulness--how we live and move in the world and how we reflect the movement of God in our lives. 

So what does making your bed have to do with a Rule of Life--beyond being a responsible hometender? When I make the bed, I announce to myself and to God my openness to another day, my intention to live purposefully and gratefully in that day. And then no matter what happens in the day, I have moved forward in at least one way. 

I will listen to the news carefully today, but not all day. 
I will read reports from The Washington Post and the New York Times, but I will not check my emails constantly.
I am sure I will check with others in my life about their reactions to the news, but I will also want to know how they are and what is happening in their lives that is sustaining and growth-giving. 
And I will maintain time for meditation and devotion. I will walk in the morning, delighting in the signs of fall. I will try to be present to the needs of others, as I try to listen to the voice of God within. 

I will attempt to nurture my spirit. 

An Invitation
If you feel pulled into today's turbulence,  how might you restore some balance in your life? I would love to know. 

NOTE: At the risk of seeming contradictory to what I have written in this post, I offer a resource that helps me process the news and also offers positive action steps, along with a range of links for further study. The resource is an email newsletter written by Robert Hubbell, an attorney in California. You can only receive this by sending your personal email, not a business or workplace address, to rbhubbell@gmail.com I urge you to subscribe--you can easily unsubscribe if it doesn't appeal. Give it a try.