Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life “If you want to change society then you must tell [and live] an alternate story.” ! ! ! ! ! - Ivan Illich; Austrian philosopher
The Need for a Rhythm of Life Before entering into an in-depth look at developing a way of life, the question must be asked, “What is a Rhythm of Life?” and “Why bother developing one?”. These are important considerations for anyone wishing to move forward, in sincerity and truth, toward a more fulfilling life. On the first account, developing a Rhythm of Life ultimately consists of a detailed and careful reflection of an individualsʼ life, both by the individual and trusted others, which leads to the discovery or affirmation of core desires, unique gifts and season of life responsibilities. These ʻlearningsʼ are then assessed and ordered according to priority, each given appropriate attention, before certain Christian disciplines and personal practices are adopted. It is important to remember that the end purpose of all of this is more freedom in an individualsʼ life and that this exercise stems out of a fundamental belief that God created within each one of us an inherent potential to become someone we as of yet do not know. So, cooperating with the Spirit of God, we can begin to live into a pattern of life that will empower us to surrender more and more of ourselves to the Spiritʼs work in and through us. The reasons to consider developing such a rhythm must arise out of our own recognition that life can be ʻbetterʼ and our desire to see it become so. Often a personal crisis (within or without), such as living at a frantic pace, brings enough cognitive dissonance to cause someone to reconsider their life - itʼs priorities and practices. This paradigm shift can also come about through a growing, general dissatisfaction with maintaining the status quo and simply existing from day to day. A growing sense of, ʻ . . there must be something moreʼ arises which can occur with those who already consider themselves Christian and those who do not. Either way, both situations lead one to consider the possibility of another way of living that is outside of their current experience which lends itself to becoming more fully their true selves - as God designed. There is no reason to move forward with developing a Rhythm of Life for any other reason than oneʼs own desire to live more fully and to steward more effectively, all of the gifts of God in oneʼs life. While being far from easy, there are few other endeavours that will yield more benefit to oneself and others than an active cooperation with God in becoming that person He dreams we can be. Traditionally, Orders within Catholicism, Anglicanism and other traditions were groups of people who gathered together (sometimes lived together) around an ethos, central principles and often a 'Rule of Life'. The Rule is a pattern for living that helps the wayfarer open more fully to God, be more available to serve others and ultimately enables the one taking on the 'Rule' to grow into who God designed them to be. One of the most influential 'Rules' was established by St. Benedict around the 6th century for monks in his care. Many have centered on basic values of poverty (simplicity), chastity (self-control) and obedience (freedom before God). Some American monks established in Limerick, Ireland have playfully referred to these three values as, 'no bling-bling, no sweet thang and I serve my King'. Regardless of what values guide certain communities (intentional gatherings) of likehearted wayfarers, the premise is a valuable one . . a Rule of Life empowers an individual www.DreamToday.org
Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life - and ultimately communities taking on the same - to become all God dreams they can be. This is what excites some of us as we share with one another. The Jesuits' self-professed mantle to be 'contemplatives in action' holds deep meaning for the collective spiritual journey. Thereʼs something about being encouraged and challenged to engage deeply with God and others - while empowering them to do the same - that appeals strongly to many of us.
Classic Principles and Distinctive Practices None of us can manage to become the person God designed us to be, or that He dreams we can become, without the influence and help of others around us. We need the dynamic of an intentional community to draw the best out of us, keep us in check, help us retain the original vision and to be honest with ourselves. The three bedrock Principles of intentional communities of faith for ages past were the trinity of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. This triumvirate formed the foundation on which all wayfarers committed to build their lives upon. They guided every thought, led every action and informed every word spoken within and outside a community. These three were specifically chosen because they represent the ʻcureʼ, antidote or counter-balance for the main ways in which our human nature manifests rebellion against God - namely our tendency to abuse money, sex and power. The principle of Poverty addresses our grasping for money and possessions, the principle of Chastity addresses our stretching for intimacy through sex alone and the principle of Obedience addresses our tendency to work for our own desires through misuse of power. These three Principles have been the Rule for intentional communities of faith seeking to live in the pattern of Jesus of Nazareth over many centuries. Below is a chart showing these ʻClassic Principlesʼ that some communities of faith have adopted or considered and variations of them which are derived from the originals. Classic Principles
Alternate Principles
Alternate Principles
Alternate Principles
Poverty
Simplicity
Generosity
Authenticity
Chastity
Purity
Self-Control
Integrity
Obedience
Accountability
Service
Humility
In addition to the Classic Principles, Dreamers of the Day will encourage those interested in journeying with us to prayerfully and critically discern Distinctive Practices that are unique to each wayfarerʼs journey, giftedness and vocation. With no more than four Distinctive Practices taken upon oneself, the intention is that these will serve as waymarkers or signposts, perpetually pointing the wayfarer to walk in the direction of becoming that person that is yet unknown to them, but not God. This process will take time and therefore patience, as well as reflection and discernment. The input of trusted friends will also be of particular importance during this period of reflective practice. In summation, any given wayfarer will have the trinity of the Classic Principles (or a derivative of) guiding their lives which are shared by all in the Community, but they will also have up to four other Distinctive Practices unique to them which they discern with the help of the Spirit and trusted friends. The Classic Principles are akin to what some refer to as the ʻgeneralʼ call of God, which simply means the call to become a follower or disciple of www.DreamToday.org
Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life Jesus, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the marks of Love (1 Corinthians 13). By contrast, the Distinctive Practices equate to what some refer to as the ʻspecificʼ call of God on a wayfarerʼs life, or that work which God is uniquely inviting each person to join Him in and has prepared for them to do according to the gifts, passion and experience He has given them. Forming the bedrock of our growth into Christ-likeness are the recognised Christian Spiritual Disciplines. They include both private and corporate practices such as silence, solitude, scripture reflection, prayer, fasting, celebration, worship and service. These practices, as well as others, help us continually open ourselves to Godʼs redeeming work within and through us. As scholar and author Dallas Willard has said, ʻ The spiritual disciplines are whatʼs within our power to do which can enable God to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves, namely, to become more like Christ.ʼ [paraphrase] Elsewhere he says in ʻThe Spirit of the Disciplinesʼ, “The disciplines promised to give our lives a form that would serve as a receptacle for the substance of the Christ-life in Godʼs present kingdom. To undertake the disciplines was to take our activities – our lives – seriously and to suppose that the following of Christ was at least as big of a challenge as playing the violin or jogging.” Simply put, the practice of the spiritual disciplines make us more receptive and available to Godʼs movements in our life. Through the guidance of the Classic Principles and Distinctive Practices, coupled with the challenge and encouragement of the Community and built upon Christian Spiritual Disciplines, a pattern of life emerges which is conducive for growth in affinity with God and love for the Other - ultimately empowering the wayfarer to become who God has dreamt they could become. “The great challenge for the Church in the West is a transformation of the heart.” - Roy Searle; Northumbria Community
Ethos and Rhythm What follows is a short excerpt from an article called ʻA Missional Order - Learning from Northumbriaʼ by Allelon Director Alan Roxburgh. He wrote it following a brief visit to the Holy Island of Lindisfarne and the Community House of the Northumbrian Community in 2007. What he shares is a key lesson learned from some of the founders of the Community around the importance and place of Ethos. . . an Order is best formed out of a more descriptive Rule rather than a set of written prescriptions around what should be done and when. In their [founders of the Northumbrian Community] experience a Rule emerges after a number of years working together in the practice of forming an Order. The Rule is discovered on the way. In the early years the Order has to be loose until you find among yourselves the # raison d'être - this is what emerges on the way. If we begin with a set of Practices then the risk of the Order becoming another program of activities to which people tick off their ʻto-doʼ list [is great]. This would be another form of what is already killing so many Christian leaders. If this is a journey into God and into the world then something else is needed.
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Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life The language Roy and Trevor [founders] used was that of ethos. Ethos is the huge piece behind everything. The focus of the Order is the guarding of the ethos which is about the journey into God - everything else flows out of that most basic journey. The Celts formed their communities beside the water because the tides continually reminded them of the rhythms essential to life [aside other reasons]. The coming in of the tide is the inward journey with its primary encounter with God and the self. The going out of the tide is the outward journey into and for the sake of the world. The ethos, therefore, is this rhythm of the tides, the inward / outward journey. The ethos is to continually cultivate [that] rhythm. If we are trying to create an environment in which we see everything as a gift from God then the rhythm is essential ~ this focal # recognition of the inner / outer journey going on in our lives continually.” “The renewal of the church will come from a new type of monasticism which has only in common with the old an uncompromising allegiance to the sermon on the mount. Itʼs high time men and women banded together to do this.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer; German pastor, professor, theologian, in a letter to his brother
Patterns for Daily Living As an individual matures in character and settles into any given season of life, it may be good to seek to understand how oneʼs life lived best would look at that particular time. The impetus for this comes from the deep awareness that all of Life is gift from our Father of Lights. We have been entrusted with much: our own lives to co-author with God, relationships with others which weʼre to give ourselves to and a world of wonder and beauty to cultivate and create within. With so much having been given to us, we must remind ourselves that, “ . . to whom much is given, much will be required.” [Luke 12:48] How can we make the most of our time, energy, efforts and abilities during the short period in which we live, move and have our being? How can we be faithful, responsible and creative co-labourers with the Spirit of God in the world? Some have embarked on a season of deep reflection and intentional surrender in order to offer their whole selves to God in service of others. The effect of this season has led to drafting what an ideal day, week and month would look like according to their gifts, passions, responsibilities to work, family, friends, the Other and season of life. The notion is to devote time to those things in our lives that we must - by responsibility and by holistic intention - which help us walk into the person we were created to be. Again, this is a process, and one which only comes about through reflection and input from those we trust who know us best. It may be useful to begin by creating a chart with hourly slots depicting your waking hours of any given day. We then, with Godʼs help, begin thinking about whatʼs most important to us - those indisputable absolutes - that define our lives. Some examples will be our circles of relationships (close friends, family and acquaintances), our work commitments, sleep and eating habits, exercise, faith practices, leisure activities, and so on. We then continue the process by prioritising those activities and marking in the hour blocks of our day according to the dayʼs priorities. A day in which youʼre working will look different www.DreamToday.org
Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life from a day that you are not, as a weekday may look different from a weekend. Remember, this process is not about how much you can fit into your schedule at any given time, but how life looks like best lived for you in a balanced, healthy, holistic fashion. It will be important to give yourself time to sleep enough to be rested (the average is between 78 hours), time to eat unrushed meals, time to work what is required of you, time for your closest relationships to develop (including your faith practices) and time to be replenished through exercise and leisure. Once you have drafted your ideal day at work and day off, try the same thing with how an ideal week would look for you giving appropriate time to the things we considered above. Your ideal week schedule will have some activities and practices that are specific to certain days, just as your ideal day schedule will have some activities and practices that are specific to certain hours. Once you have experimented with your days and week, try drafting what an ideal month would look like for you with those added monthly activities and practices which occur infrequently. Some people may choose to continue drafting an ideal year with those activities and practices that are bimonthly, quarterly or are unique to a certain time of the year. Further consideration may be given to practices occurring less frequently (such as every five or ten years) such as pilgrimages, specific gatherings or other more costly investments of oneself. The goal of all of this is freedom for the wayfarer engaging in this sort of deliberate action. To many it may seem that these suggestions are too rigid or inflexible and may therefore stymie an individualʼs freedom. Far from it. Rather than sapping it, developing a life plan such as has been suggested is meant to give life and impart freedom. It is well-attested that structure breeds freedom of the rarest kind by allowing space for activities and practices that need to happen, but all too often get squeezed out due to procrastination or lack of preparation. After having invested time reflecting on oneʼs life in a holistic manner and creating the appropriate space for those most necessary things, a pattern of life can emerge that empowers the wayfarer in the process of ʻbecomingʼ. In this way, anyone can begin to more intentionally co-author their life with God who already knows intimately the dreams Heʼs had for us since the foundation of the world. “Communities must reinforce how broken we are, how vulnerable we are and how much in need of Godʼs grace we will always be.” - Brother Samuel; Franciscan Friar
Dreamer Values After some time exploring and reflecting on what it means to live out the vocation of a Dreamer - no matter our specific calling - a few trends began to emerge which were then translated into Values describing our modus operandi (or ʻway of operatingʼ). As with nearly all that we are offering here in the Dreamers Rhythm of Life, these are up for discussion and revision as more people opt into becoming a member of the community and begin living into this Rhythm. The over-arching vocation of the Dreamer is the title in bold italics, the Values are in bold and each Valuesʼ m.o., or how the Value is worked out, is stated below them in italics. The Values appear in no particular order.
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Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life • Investing in Others • Facilitating Godʼs Dream for the Individual • What is it for Each Person? • Moving in the Direction of Godʼs Invitation to Relationship and Partnership • Celebrating Creativity • Partnering in Collaborative Ventures • Blessing and Participating in the Good, True and Beautiful • Releasing / Encouraging Others • Respecting the Image of God in Creation • Giving Voice to / Addressing the Needs of Others • Preserving / Cultivating our Home Planet • Human Relationships • Animal life • Plant life • Living a Life of Integrity • Living in Community as we follow Jesusʼ example (Generosity) • Authenticity Transparency (Self-Control) • • Intentionality (Service) • Striving for Excellence • Doing the Best We Can With What We Have • Giving Our Lives in Response to God Giving His to Us • Living Out of Those Places God has Put a Fire In Our Souls • Defacing Superficiality • Creating Space for Depth • Engendering Conversation • Welcoming Questions and Doubts • Embracing the Uncomfortable for the Sake of Growth We believe that the practice of reflecting upon and writing down the Values we live out of enables us to be more intentional in our efforts, more passionate in our prayer and less frenzied in our daily routines. Through the practice of writing out those things we value, we are inviting each other into the deliberate activity of continually revising how we are investing ourselves in life as the Spirit of God leads. The Dreamer Values are those things that inform our practice and pursuit day to day. We are visible signs to one another of how our Values are lived out, just as in the case of the Classic Principles and Distinctive Practices. The Community is a safe place to experiment and practice living life in the Way of Jesus and in the Rhythm of a Dreamer. "Imagination is the beginning of creation. You imagine what you desire; you will what you imagine; and at last you create what you will." - George Bernard Shaw; Irish poet & playwright
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Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life Dreamer Objectives Finally, after a period of conversation and introspection, a number of Objectives have arisen which the Community would like to continually work toward. Some Objectives are long-term, others medium-term and a couple are continual. They are, as are most things in this Rhythm of Life, up for discussion and revision. We would like to keep the Objectives to a maximum of five in order to concentrate our efforts and sharpen our focus. When those Objectives that are time-bound or task related have been accomplished, new Objectives may be added to replace them. The accomplishment of agreed upon Objectives encourages the Community to mature, builds into our collective history and offers us opportunity to directly influence culture-at-large. The following Objectives are listed below in no particular order. • The provision of a retreat facility in Ireland to facilitate creative enterprises and personal growth • To facilitate networking between people engaged in creative practice • To facilitate the training and education of individuals and groups for creative practice • The provision of counselling services, care services, soul friendship and other support services for persons requiring them for the advancement of their holistic well-being • To promote and support the creativity of communities, groups and individuals within the island of Ireland and beyond “The reason we are not able to see God is the faintness of our desire.” - Meister Eckhart; Christian Mystic
Desire as Fuel for the Journey Desire plays a huge role in life. Many Christians view desire with suspicion and some with contempt, seeing it as that aspect of the human soul that leads one away from the path of God into rebellious habits. Their response, I believe, stems mostly from fear of the unknown. If we are to truly understand our deepest, core desires as human beings, we must begin telling the Story from the beginning - not from the Fall where many churches focus their efforts. We need to remember that in the beginning God created and it was good. He made us for Himself and there was joy in that union between God and humanity. It follows then that if God made us for Himself, our greatest longing, fulfilment and desire can only be met in Him. By nature, God is an independent being and humans are dependent beings. Independent being(s) by nature exist outside of the need - or selfsustaining - desire for what others or things offer them. They exist in their own right regardless of anything else. Dependent beings however, must derive their value, their identity and therefore their worldview from independent sources in order for them to thrive in health and wholeness. Unfortunately, the opposite has proven true throughout much of history leading us into the ʻcrisis of the soulʼ humanity now experiences. We need to get back to ʻgoodʼ. One prayer I often pray for myself and others is that God will remind us of our hunger for Him. Since He, in fact, made us for Himself in love, our greatest desire - everyoneʼs www.DreamToday.org
Dreamers of the Day - Rhythm of Life greatest desire - is truly for the One who loves them, although that desire is possibly hidden under layers of rebellion. Ontologically, desire is such a foundational building block in the human soul that it follows we need to see change happen at that deepest level of who we are for the rest of our soul to be transformed. That process of change can come about through individuals getting in touch with their God-desire, whether or not they call it that or recognise the desire in the first place. People are yearning for God and so many cannot even see it. We might immediately think of those ʻoutsideʼ the confessing Christian family when we hear a sentence like that, but the same is true of those of us who confess. We often still seek satisfaction through avenues other than God when our God-hunger begins to surface. The challenge in life is redirecting our souls to the Source that absolutely satisfies. Our desire for God - or to what degree weʼre aware of it - sets the stage for God to show up in our lives. Our desire forms the basis of our invitation to God; an invitation He will not quickly pass up. Recognising this and owning it is a key step toward healthy growth in Christ-likeness. Deconstructing and analyzing our behaviours and motivations will often reveal a glimpse of our hunger for God which is intended to be a help for us in the spiritual journey, reminding us of our true ʻhomeʼ in God Himself. Answers to our prayers, miraculous experiences and the acquisition of inspired knowledge will never substitute for intimacy with the Lover of our souls. He is our Great Reward, He is our True Desire, He is the Fulfillment of our soulʼs longing. God extends a wonderful grace to us that in those times when we honestly do not sense or own desire for Him, this too He can grant us if we only ask. We find our beginning and end in Him who is and who sustains everything. In conclusion, all of the aforementioned details of developing a Rhythm of Life are meaningless activity unless propelled by a rapacious hunger for the Living God. May God reveal to us that all the best we dream for ourselves and others is animated in Him. “Few people could imagine what God would make of them if they would whole-heartedly surrender themselves into His loving care.” - St. Ignatius of Loyola; founder of the Jesuits
Appendixes What follows are simply examples of how one personʼs experimental practice of the above may look as discerned by themselves and others in the Community. These are meant purely for illustrative purposes. Each individual will have their own unique Rhythm of Life. Classic Principles
Distinctive Practices
Generosity
Writing
Self-Control
Reading
Service
Spiritual Direction
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Speaking
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