I recently wrote my final assignment for a class I have been taking, Christian Spiritual Formation, taught by Dr. David Wray. It has been a wonderful and challenging experience to learn about a variety of spiritual traditions and perspectives. This final paper, which I have included below is a statement of principles for me to measure my life by. I expect that it will change over time, but it will help me at the present time.


Don Morrison’s Rule of Life

Jesus said, “Seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:33, NIV) That is the essence of my rule for life. I do not anticipate perfection; I simply want to measure my thoughts and actions by the direction I have chosen. I have found that this simple rule sustains me when I am confused by life, when I have failed to be righteous, when I doubt God or his motives, even when I feel defeated. This straight-edge gives me direction when I am lost. It is a grace from God to straighten my bent. It is comfort, since Jesus is not speaking to those who have found the kingdom already, but to those who, like me, may experience moments under the reign of God, yet often find ourselves submitting to the world and its values. This rule is for broken seekers who are still worried about this life, but who want to trust in the promise that God will give to us what we need.

I will seek God through worship. While there are deeply personal elements of worship, I find they are often intertwined with those parts of worship that are communal as well. So as I seek God through worship, I will do so as an individual who is not alone or disconnected from the body and as a member of the body of Christ who is to some extent self-responsible.

Purity of life is my worship to God. I give my body as a living sacrifice to God as a spiritual act of worship. It is a grace from God to discipline what goes into my body and what comes out of it. May my speech reflect his purity. May my hands reflect his care. May my feet reflect his perfect ways. Keep me from unrighteousness and fill me with your Spirit so that I may seek purity.

Taking the spiritual nourishment of the body and blood of Jesus is my worship to God. When I think that the things of this world can offer me fulfillment, I need the Supper. I eat the bread with God’s family to remind me where my righteousness comes from and how much it costs and to proclaim this to the world. I drink the cup and its sweetly, tangy flavor traces over my tongue and down my throat, into my stomach where is becomes a part of me. So different from who I am, yet absorbed into my being, like the righteousness of Christ which becomes mine. I need the Supper to remind me that I live because he sustains me.

Prayer is my worship to God. I will seek intimacy with God in confessing my life to him and pouring my needs and my heart’s desires before him in spontaneous encounters and in scheduled times of prayer.

Reading from the Holy Scripture is my worship to God. I will find new expressions of the Father by daily receiving his word into my spirit.

Yielding to the work and guidance of the Holy Spirit is my worship to God. I will listen quietly for his wisdom in the words of scripture, his created children, and the world around me. I will exercise my yielding in the most obvious guidance so that I can hear him better when he speaks quietly, subtly.

Fellowshipping with other seekers is my worship to God. It is good to be with those who love the Lord, but it is not always easy, since we are made of human flesh. We can make each other comfortable and we can challenge one another’s comfort. We need a full diversity of fellowship to balance our egos. We need a full diversity of fellowship to make up for our own weaknesses.

Exploring new ways of engaging my spirit with his is my worship to God. Practicing a variety of spiritual disciplines: finding those I am most comfortable with and stretching with those I find challenging will teach me new facets of God’s divine being. Asking questions about my beliefs or about doctrines can free me for fresh answers from God.

Caring for my very self is my worship to God. My ability to seek God is a gift from God that I should cherish and nurture. My ability to seek God feeds my ability to minister in his kingdom so it is worthy of special care. Caring for self does not place self at the center of life, rather it stewards the body and spirit God has given me for his purposes.

I will seek God through Ministry. I will find ways to participate in God’s mission on behalf of humankind, that he is reconciling all things to himself. I will open my heart to compassion for the world, one or two at a time, as God enables me. I will live in such a way as to validate the message of God’s renewing work.

I will seek God through imitation of his holy character. I will humble myself before God and people to serve where I can. I will share my life with others in such a way as to draw us into shared paths so that we can seek God together. I will be a peace-maker to help reconcile people with people and with God: bringing diversity into unity; brokenness into wholeness.

I will honor righteousness, faithfulness, justice as I learn to love what God loves. I will protect the weak from the oppressor and the destroyer as I learn to hate what God hates. I will place first things first as I learn to be ambivalent about those things God is unconcerned with.

What is Real

Sabbath helps us sort things through. That is to say a period of rest gives us time and opportunity to contemplate our life and actions. When we take time off from everything we can talk and remember together. Time off puts work and productivity into perspective, especially when we are compelled by someone else to rest when we would rather be doing something. God gave Israel two explicit reasons for observing the Sabbath – Creation and Recreation.

“For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.” (Exodus 31:17) One might think that God didn’t really need to rest; that he was finished with all his work anyway; that his fence wasn’t broken; or whatever one wants to think about why God’s rest is different from the rest he commanded his people to take, but the point is still the same – God is saying he set an example for people and then commanded them to follow it: remember the rest and consider that time differently than any other time.

“Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” (Deuteronomy 5:15) God had re-created Israel as a sovereign people from out of slavery because of his purposes for them and his promises to Abraham. Here, God instructs them: Keep the rest of God because you used to be slaves to labor, receiving only tenuous rewards for it, but as my people, I will provide for you and give you rest.

Sabbath is an important gift from God because it reminds us of what is real. God created us in his image to work and to be restful with him. God has re-created us further into his image by the work of Jesus, our Savior, so that we might find restfulness in him. The work we accomplish here will end and pass away, but our rest in God is more real. It is with God and in God; it transforms us out of this world and into his.