The Table Video

Modern life is crazy busy. How, then, can any of us encounter “the peace that transcends understanding”? Pastor Ken Shigematsu recommends a daily/weekly (just regular!) pattern of spirituality that ancient Christians called a “Rule of Life.” Here are three ideas to deal with your crazy busy life: (1) Start a rhythm of prayer, (2) Keep a 24-hour sabbath, (3) Meditate every morning. Ken Shigematsu is author of God in My Everything and Pastor of Tenth Church in Vancouver, B.C.

Transcript:

There are some stages in life where a person is gonna be invariably busy and under great demands. For example, a mother, or a stay at home dad of young children. Or, say you’re in your medical residency or you’re a surgeon in a very specialized area and you just are understaffed. But, for many of us, we can simplify our lives.

And, for many of us, including myself, we tend to add, add, add, add. And so, I began to create a rule of life or a rhythm of life. A trellis that supported my friendship with Jesus. What did that trellis look like? And so, here’s something that I’ve learned that actually makes a difference in a persons everyday work world. You may not have a lot of time to pray for a prolonged period in any given day.

But, if you have a simple rhythm of prayer, even if it’s pausing briefly in the morning to meditate and then perhaps setting the chime on your watch to remind you to direct your attention to God on the hour, you can experience your whole day as a prayer. Benedict taught that to pray is to work, and to work is to pray.

And Benedict believed that if you had some kind of rhythm of prayer, even if it was simple. When you went out to the fields to work. When you did something that was honoring to God. Even if that wasn’t overtly spiritual, that act of work was an act of devotion and therefore, an act of prayer. And so, if we can have a simple rhythm of prayer, we can see our everyday work, whether it’s in the office, raising children, teaching, studying, as prayer.

One of the most important practices, one of the most important components of my rhythm or rule of life is keeping a 24 hour Sabbath each week. Sabbath gave me an opportunity to pray, but to also engage in activities that were truly life-giving.

The Abraham Heschel wrote a great book on the Sabbath called, A Sanctuary In Time, and I feel like when I’m done work I can really be present to my wife and our five year old boy who’s just begun kindergarten. On Sabbath, I feel like I can be present to God, my friends, because I’m not worrying about work. I am experiencing a holy kind of time A sanctuary in time. One of the most helpful parts of my own simple rhythm or rule of life is to take some time each morning to meditate.

Now, by nature I’m a very easily distracted person. At any given time I can feel like there are a thousand chimpanzees jumping around in my mind. And, so typically some time in the morning, I’ll simply sit for maybe just 10 minutes and I’ll breathe deeply. [breathes] And, because I’m so easily distracted, I’ll use a simple word like wait that I’ll repeat. Wait or Jesus.

Jesus, to focus me. I find that what is most fruitful for me is to take a shorter passage of Scripture, to read it, to reflect on it, to let it evoke certain feelings and perhaps even inspire certain images in my imagination, and to stay with that passage for maybe a few days perhaps, even a few weeks, and to pray it back to God. Perhaps memorize it.

And, there’s something about this practice that causes the Scripture to move from my head to my heart. That causes the Scripture to take root in me and to become part of me and change me. At the end of my simple meditation, I tend to feel more relaxed, a little more focused throughout the day, and a little more conscious of Jesus.