Dream Awakener

  Batasia loop 
  Originally uploaded by Java Cafe.

“The caterpillar must yield up the life it knows and submit to the mystery of interior transformation.  It emerges from the process transfigured, with wings that give it freedom to fly. …A rule of life gives us a way to enter into the life-long process of personal transformation. Its disciplines help us to shed the familiar but constricting “old self’ and allow our “new self” in Christ to be formed – the true self that is naturally attracted to the light of God.”   - Marjorie Thompson from SoulFeast

“Two things are important to consider in setting a rule for yourself:  paying attention to your heart’s desires and being realistic.  Taking both of these into account through prayer, meditation, and conversation with others, and using both of them to discern your rule, will help you develop a rule you can live with for a lifetime.”  – Debra Farrington  from Living  Faith Day by Day

God

• Start and the day with God through the lectionary morning psalm of the day, letting the Psalmist teach me how to pray more honestly and about everything
• Throughout the day remember all of the good gifts that God has given me through prayer and thanking people verbally as well as in written form
• End the day with a simplified version of Ignatius practice:  Stop, Look and Listen.  To stop is to slow down in order pay attention to what God is doing.  To look is relive the day, looking at what God is doing around me.  To listen is to allow the Spirit to speak to me, to encourage me, guide me, or admonish me
• A few times a month seek God through prayer and fasting

Prayer

• Create a moveable prayer space on my roof, allowing the view of the city to help me to engage in prayer for the needs of my city and neighborhood
• Taking the time to pray with others often, short or long prayers, praying for needs as well as prayers of thanksgiving
• Taking time to pray for my enemies and those who annoy me
• Engage in monthly mini-retreats in different environments for silence, solitude and reflection

Work

• Pray regularly for my annual and monthly goals as it relates to my vocation, helping lead our congregations to fulfill their vision
• Take time each week to listen to the Spirit through my staff and community
• Take a monthly time to consider ways to better steward my time and money, as well as take care of my relationships and use and develop more effective tools
• Accept the gift of limits by monthly reviewing the chapter in The Emotional Healthy Church and assessing my emotional health and the emotional health of our church
• Seek the applause of God while at the same time applauding the efforts of others and humbly thanking people when complimented, without letting it enlargen my head

Study

• Read everyday and take time to share what I learn with others through my personal interactions and my blog
• Prepare well for each time that I preach, studying the scripture, books as well as surfing the internet
• Engage in group lectio divina during staff meetings and other settings as a way to meditate on the scripture
• Always be ready to learn from others, by asking good questions and listening well
• Take time to study both God’s creation and the city through taking photographs, walking and biking in the city, beach, mountains and desert as well as reading about creation and the city

Community

• Worship regularly with my spiritual community at Kairos Hollywood, taking the time to focus on God, remember and reenact the story of God through the Christian calendar, as well as partake of the Eucharist weekly
• Practice the craft of what it means to embody the ministry of reconciliation
• Have regular meaningful connection with my fellow leaders in the church for support, confession as well as oversight of the church
• Make at least one connection a week with my various spiritual advisors
• Meet at least quarterly with a pastors support group outside of my local church
• Take time each week to spend with people who refresh me

Body

• Exercise regularly – at least three times a week
• Have a balanced diet in light of our global context
• Live a proper theology of both sleep and rest, by being careful not to stay up late and wake to early too much, also by weekly taking a Sabbath rest, from Thursday to Friday
• In my stop, look and listen time, take note of physical health by listening to my body as well
• Express physical affection regularly and properly
• Recognize that a cheerful heart is good medicine by always keeping a good sense of humor and learning to laugh at both myself and other funny things
• Allow the wristband that I received from the pastors in Kenya to remind me of my rule of life, and how as I live it I can be of greater service to God and the poor

Outward

• Take some time each month to consider how to live a life of simply beauty by reading as well as taking inventory of what I have and what I can give away
• Be generous with what God has given me, by giving and serving in secret as well as using my gifts and talents to help those in need by allowing air time in my schedule
• Continue to be actively involved with the Solis Foundation, growing in my understanding of Kenya and her people, micro-loans and grants and raising resources to meet the needs of those who are without
• Watch films and listen to music that inspires and provokes me to think and care more about justice issues

Hospitality

• Practice hospitality on a daily basis, helping people in small or large ways
• Always be ready to host people at my apartment whether they be strangers or friends, taking care of them as if they were Jesus