Parish Magazine Item for March

(A development of the previous post!)


From The Rectory



It’s striking, if we stop to think about it, how much, for good or for ill, we are formed by our habits. I guess we don’t always realise their power. During the recent power cut, I still found myself walking into the loo and trying to turn on the light, although, of course, if I’d paused, I would have known that nothing was going to happen. It seems we are hard-wired to be creatures of habit, and so it’s worth asking to what extent our ways of doing things are healthy or harmful. Maybe these things sometimes seem neutral, but it could be a valuable exercise, for example, to reflect on our morning or bedtime routines, or our way of going about meals, or interacting with others, or our use of technology, or whatever. I potter round doing various things first thing in the morning, opening curtains and unlocking the door and so on, but pretty soon I normally head to my computer with a large coffee. It might be good for me to insert a brief prayer and a Bible text even before the first email of the day.  



This season of Lent (which runs from Ash Wednesday on 26^th February through the weeks approaching Easter) might be a good time for such self-examination and re-evaluation. Habits are not easy to break, but studies show that within a month a new habit can be pretty well established. It seems likely that you could make a change by Easter Sunday on 12^th April.  



I’ve been helped in thinking about this by a paperback by Justin Whitmel Earley, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction (Downers Grove, IL: IVP, 2019). Its very practical and readable. The Common part of the title comes from the conviction that these practices are best adopted communally, with others, but also that these things can be lived out in ordinary life, not just by super-spiritual monastics. Earley, an American mergers and acquisitions lawyer, realised he had to make some changes when he found himself overdoing it at work, anxious, experiencing insomnia, with his family life suffering.

He suggests eight possible habits, four daily and four weekly, of resistance and embrace. The daily habits are: (1) Kneeling prayer at morning, midday and bedtime; (2) One meal with others; (3) One hour with phone off; (4) Scripture before phone. And the weekly ones are: (1) One hour of conversation with a friend; (2) Curate media to four hours; (3) Fast from something for twenty-four hours; (4) Sabbath.



Of course, most of these things are issues of practical wisdom rather than biblical law. These ideas may not fit your particular circumstances and needs. And you wouldn’t have to buy into the whole package all at once. I haven’t! You could just give one or two of these things a go for a while. For example, if, like me, you aspire to pray but you find it harder to actually pray, Earley has the helpful suggestion of setting an alarm (e.g. on your phone) for some time each day when you are likely to be able to take a few moments to pray. 



Earley suggests that just a couple of these small changes could make an enormous difference: he calls them key-stone habits. Your approach to the day might be radically altered by two or three minutes of quiet and prayer framing and punctuating your other activities. And the Bible is meant to be daily food for our souls. That doesn’t necessarily mean hours of Bible study at the crack of dawn (though I’m all for that!). A few moments each day, say with a verse from the Psalms, could be transforming. Lots of resources such as Bible reading notes or little devotional books are available to help us engage with the Scriptures. Videos and other resources for using the habits / to accompany the book can be found at the website: https://www.thecommonrule.org/. Why not give one of these things a go? And perhaps invite a friend or family member to try it with you.



However you plan to observe it or not, a happy and holy Lent and Easter to you!

The Revd Marc Lloyd