lee abbey talk #5

Community life can get pretty intense at times, and I remember that during our own time at Lee Abbey it often helped to climb South Cleeve, and look down on it from a great height …

I pray these sessions will grant a similar sense of divine perspective over our lives, for the guests this week & all who may read these words

Adopting an intentional Rule of Life is about sustaining that healthy perspective, and positioning ourselves to pursue & reflect holiness by the grace of God

To be effective it will need spiritual disciplines of abstinence (talk #2) as well as disciplines of engagement (talk #4) … both what has been called the “via negativa” & also the “via positiva”

To sum up talk #5 :

consider the benefits of a Rule of Life - and use a simple tool to construct your own

aim for balance, but also build in “practices of excess”

remember from Philippians how our own disciplines are matched & partnered by God’s grace : “Therefore, my dear friends …. continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.“

beware the pharisee within, obsessing over the means rather than the goal : for in the end All is Grace …

Click here to download Talk 5 : Guiding our steps as may best for us be