YOUR OWN RULE

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Personal Rule Assessment

1. Take a sheet of paper and make a line down the middle.  Make a line across about two-thirds of the way down.
2. Label the top left rectangle Daily, and the the top right rectangle Weekly.  The bottom left rectangle is labeled Monthly, and the bottom right Annually.
3. In the Daily box write in any spiritual practice you do daily, even if it is no more than crossing yourself when you leave the house.  Follow suit with each of the following boxes.  Regular parishioners will certainly have "Eucharist" in the Weekly box.  If you do something three times a week, write it in the Weekly box and put "3X" behind it.  Something you do twice a month, would be in the Monthly box with "2X" behind it.  Stretch you imagination.  You can always edit this later.  Just because things are routine doesn't mean they're not important.  The Yearly box should have "Renewal of Baptismal vows" in it.  Sure it's part of the Easter service, but those vows are central to the faith.
4. What you've got on your sheet is your rule as it currently exists.
5. If you think God is in your life as much as He ought to be, you're done.  If not, read on.

Expanding Your Rule

1. If you yearn to do more, then it's time to look around for what will work for you.  This is an interesting and exciting process, but it takes time. 
2. Start by going back to the personal assessment sheet you made up.  See how balanced your spiritual life is by coding each item according to the code below.  Some items will have more than one category. 
• E = Education (study, classes, programs)
• L = Liturgical participation (Lector, intercessor, server, usher, officiant, oblation bearer, extraordinary minister, etc.)
• S = Service (committee work, newsletter, library, mentor, coffee hour host, etc.)
• W = Worship
3. For spiritual practices that you may wish to add in expanding your personal rule, see the Spiritual Formation page.
4. Be patient with yourself and remember that this is not an athletic contest.  True progress will only happen with God's grace, and that will be given to you is his time, not yours.  It's important that you feel comfortable with what you add on.
5. Go slowly.  Your chances of success are better if you add one thing at a time, learn to live with it, and fully integrate it into your life.  Adding too much at once can be overwhelming and burn you out.  Think in terms of making it for the long haul.