Integration of Prayer of the Heart
in a Rule of Life
To unify our life
utterly with Christ we must make commitments that are incarnated in daily
praxis or actualization. In other words it isn't enough to have lovely thoughts
or intentions about our life of Refuge in the Heart of Christ. We must **do** something to deepen our
daily gift of self in love to the Beloved Yeshua. This is especially true for
those who follow the Way of the Heart. The most sublime illumination or unitive
experiences can become only pleasant memories if we do not consecrate our life
and commitment, moment to moment, to the living Truth of those
experiences. This consecrated life
takes expression in making every act of attention one of adoration of Christ in
the present moment and every choice one of self-giving love to Christ. St.
Benedict in his Rule says "Prefer nothing to Christ." We must make
each moment of life in the Prayer of the Heart a choice for singular Refuge in
the Heart of Christ. Yeshua must be our breath, Yeshua must be our life, and
Yeshua must become in the course of a lifetime our home and sole refuge. From
the monastic tradition we solemnize and incarnate this commitment in a personal
Rule of Life.
What is a Rule
of Life? - Marjorie
Thompson, in her book on Christian Spiritual Disciplines, Soul Feast, says: “ A rule of life is a pattern of
spiritual disciplines which provides structure and direction for growth in
holiness. When we speak of patterns in our life, we mean attitudes, behaviors,
or elements that are routine, regular, repeated. .... It is meant to help us establish a rhythm of daily
living, a basic order within which new freedoms can grow. A rule of life, like
a trellis, curbs our tendency to wander and supports our frail efforts to grow
spiritually.” (Thompson. p.138)
Why do we need a
Rule of Life? - The spiritual journey in Prayer of the Heart starts with
the insight that Christ alone is our heart’s desire, and it is only when
communion with Yeshua is the wellspring of every action, every choice, and
every goal, that we find completion and essential happiness and peace in
life. At the same time the Prayer
of the Heart tradition acknowledges the tremendous resistance in the ego-self
to the life of transformation. Life long conversion takes us from private self
seeking and the impulses of our misdirected desires, to bringing Christ at the
center of all we do, "To prefer nothing to Christ." Spiritual maturation therefore requires
commitment, and commitment requires discipline, the capacity and willingness to
be faithful, moment to moment, and day by day, to our practices of relational
life and refuge in Christ. This goal of growing intimacy and realization that
for us Christ is both personal and oceanic presence of the Divine Beloved, is
to be realized through the life of ceaseless Prayer of the Heart, in all
things, in all moments of life. The Rule of Life is a commitment to ceaseless
prayer, ceaseless communion in Christ.
Our Personal Covenant with
Christ in the Way of the Heart
Consecrated
Silent Communion- To
cultivate this communion we need established, consecrated times of the day
which we set aside for the central relationship in our life, from which all
relationships spring. The nature of that time of silent communion in formal
sitting practice can be restful and restoring, but its essence is our
self-giving to Christ. We keep watch with Christ and wait on His Presence, and
open to His love. We breathe Yeshua and it is enough.
Consecrated
Reading and Reflection- We
need to also give time to reading and reflecting about the Christ who is our
heart’s desire. The practice of Lectio Divina comes to us from the ancients as
a way of moving from the textual word of God with the mind to the Living Word
of Christ in interior silence. We should make of this a Holy Leisure, which is
both restoring and enriching.
Consecrated
Contrition and Conversion- Contrition
and Conversion are ceaseless practice. Therefore it is essential to set times
of gazing in the mirror of self-reflection and recollection each day. This is usually best done in the
evening at prayer time in conjunction with our evening Prayer of the Heart
session. We do this not to judge or condemn or deem any part of our humanity
unworthy. Rather we do this so that we can be willing to look honestly and
nakedly at all those elements in our life, in our mental activity, in our
actions, in our ethics, in our inner and outer life, which are not in harmony
with interior communion with God. We stand naked and hold before the merciful
eyes of Christ all of our humanity, all of the dark places in our mind and
consciousness that need His love and truth to be healed. We look closely for
those aspects of our daily life that lead us from our deepest intention of
refuge in Christ or worse, bring injury to our intimacy with Him. This daily
practice brings the utter freedom of contrition, forgiveness, and release from
all that impedes the love of Christ in our life. In Yeshua the grace of
conversion is always being offered. We can only make ourselves accessible to
it.
Consecrated Service/Work- The praxis of our love of Yeshua extends
to all of our community, to all beings, to all Creation, to love and serve
Christ in the world around us. Each of us will do this uniquely with our own
gifts. Without making vows of service of some kind, our Covenant of Communion
with God is incomplete and defies the purpose of Prayer of the Heart, which is
to bring forth the God-life of Agape into the world. This is true whether our
service is peeling potatoes, weeding the garden, caring for our families,
ministering to the sick, or cleaning up the polluted waterways in our
community. In consecrated work practice we bring the fullness of our presence
to the service before us, and do all we do as offering to the love of Christ.
We do consecrated work practice in the great tradition of Brother Lawrence and
the practice of the Presence of God, and in the Benedictine monastic rule of
prayer in work. This service is the praxis of Ceaseless Prayer of the Heart in
the service of Christ in all Creation.
Community
Prayer and Liturgical Practice- We do not come to God alone. "Where two or three are
gathered" in Yeshua we find Him there. This may be more readily attainable
for some than others. We may need to be creative and flexible in finding our
community of practice in Prayer of the Heart, whether local or long
distance. We include the community
of those who walk with us presently on the Prayer of the Heart path and the
wisdom of those who have walked before.
We enter the stream of God's Love with other followers of the Way of the
Heart in the eternal Present.
Accountability-
Vows of Practice- It is
good to share our Rule of Life with at least one trusted soul friend or
spiritual mentor. It is good to ask that person to pray for you, to help us to
be faithful to our covenant of Refuge in Christ a friend in the spirit with
whom we can discuss our covenant and daily practice from time to time. Having
an experienced guide or teacher in Prayer of the Heart is a blessing indeed if
such a person is nearby.
Our "Rule of
Life" or " Personal Covenant with Christ" are vows of relational
practice. Our Vows of Practice are akin to marriage or friendship vows. They
are serious commitments. At the same time we must cultivate the humility to
accept that we will fail in our faithfulness at times. Yet we must
not give into discouragement, but as in a marriage or deep friendship, return
to our practice, our singular desire to give ourselves to the Love of Christ
and find no refuge in any other thing. This singular desire, to "prefer
nothing to Christ" is our life and the core of our vows of practice.
Our Wholehearted
Yes to Christ
Despite the value of having a formalized commitment to
the "whole cloth" of daily practice and the disciplines that sustain
it, we should never lose sight of the utter simplicity of this practice.
Everything we do in our life, in our Prayer of the Heart practice, is at the
service of this one central desire to respond to the invitation of Yeshua, to
abide always in Him, in His Love. To be fully offered, fully given in love to Yeshua,
our heart's desire, is the completion and fulfillment of the Christian path of
consecrated life.
