Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Creating a “Rule of Life”: Habits for the New Semester

Creating a “Rule of Life”: Habits for the New Semester

Last updated on: August 21, 2019 at 5:00 am by Andrea L. Turpin

Creating a “Rule of Life”: Habits for the New Semester 2019-08-20T16:51:27-04:00 Andrea L. Turpin

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I am obsessed with habits. Particularly the spiritual formation potential of habits. I don’t remember exactly how it got started—I think a few book recommendations on the topic from friends. But soon, I was converted. As a historian, I make my living with my mind and spend a lot of time in my head. So, ironically, it took reading philosophical explanations of the power of habit to convince my mind that my life is shaped as much by what my body does as by what my mind thinks.

Benedict of Aniane, who helped popularize the Rule of Benedict of Nursia / Wikimedia Commons

More liturgical Christian traditions have for many years (as in, millennia) practiced a “rule of life” as a tool of spiritual growth. As Justin Whitmel Earley explains in The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction, “rule” in this context connotes “trellis” more than “regulation.” The idea is that by building certain spiritual disciplines into our days and weeks, we guide the growth of our life in healthy directions, like a plant on a trellis. The most famous rules of life are probably those developed by St. Benedict and St. Augustine for monastic communities, but the principle applies well to individual lives too. (Though from a Christian perspective, a healthy rule of life would always include regular times of Christian community and worship!)

This fall, I am for the first time teaching Baylor’s graduate historiography course, The Historian’s Craft. The course is designed as an introduction to the history profession for its future practitioners. In preparation for writing the syllabus, I polled historians on Twitter (#twitterstorians) about what they wish they had learned their first semester of graduate school. I got some great answers. My own answer was this: I wish I had been encouraged to spend more time reflecting on how to construct a healthy, sustainable pattern of life as a student, scholar, and teacher. So now that I have been handed the keys to this car, that’s one of the places we’re driving it.

On the first day of class, I will hand out some sample rules of life shared with me by an Anglican priest friend. Then over the next few weeks my students will complete the following assignment:

Instructions for “Rule of Life” Reflection Paper:

Read the “Creating a Rule of Life” handout plus ONE of the following books (your choice!):

From a Christian perspective:

Justin Earley, The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction
Earley develops a simple 8-part rule of life—including components like “Scripture before phone” and “curate media to four hours”—with a particular eye toward helping contemporary Americans, and especially American Christians, live well in our modern culture. His reflections on the spiritual rationale for each habit are particularly thought-provoking.

Stephen Macchia, Crafting a Rule of Life: An Invitation to the Well-Ordered Way**
Offering the most direct instruction on creating your own rule of life, Macchia draws on the rule of St. Benedict to lead readers into constructing a wise pattern of Christian habits for the circumstances of their particular lives.

James K. A. Smith, You Are What You Love: The Spiritual Power of Habit
In this brief, insightful book, Smith argues that we are already engaging in habits incentivized by our culture without realizing it. These habits, in turn, are forming us into certain types of people—not necessarily ones that look like Christ. He argues for a different set of more purposefully chosen habits that point us in that direction.

Tish Harrison Warren, Liturgy of the Ordinary: Sacred Practices in Everyday Life
Warren walks us through common actions of each day—from brushing our teeth to sitting in traffic—and offers suggestions for how to approach them in a way that helps us encounter God through them such that they slowly shape us into holier people.

From no particular faith perspective:

David Allen, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity
This book is a classic of its genre and offers insight into workflow, or what habits in our daily work lives lead to the greatest productivity with the least amount of unnecessary stress.

Cal Newport, Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World**
Newport argues that contemporary culture pulls us away from the type of work that is both most meaningful and most productive: focused, deep work. He offers suggestions for which practices allow us to cultivate more opportunities for this type of satisfying work.

Gretchen Rubin, Better than Before: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits
Rubin provides really practical advice for how to make and break habits in such a way as to guide your life in the direction you want it to go.

Laura Vanderkam, 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think**
Vanderkam (my Princeton classmate, who sells a lot more books than I do :-)) analyzes how happy, successful people tend to organize their time—and how we can learn from them, given that we all have the same number of hours in a week.

As a result of what you read in the book, make at least one relevant life change for at least one week—ideally for two or more. Then write a 4-page reflection essay. About half of it should be a review of the book. The other half should be your personal reflections about: (1) your experience in attempting the change, and (2) how you would like to structure your time in graduate school going forward (does not have to be exhaustive!).

***

As I look ahead to starting the new semester next week, I too have been reflecting on what habits I want to add or tweak. The idea is that when I get in the thick of the semester, those habits will be channeling me in good directions when I wouldn’t necessarily have the mental energy to reflect on the best ways to use my time. If you join my students and me in this exercise, I’d love to hear about the results!

Historical Profession

Spiritual Disciplines

Previous Post

August 20, 2019

It's Not Just Evangelicals: Trump and Mainline Protestantism

Next Post

August 22, 2019 The Importance of Knowing Your Religious Neighbors

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who was the king of Babylon during the exile of the Israelites?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Darius Nebuchadnezzar Belshazzar Cyrus