Playing by the rule: Jennifer Kavanagh is resolved

‘I usually have some intentions in mind.’

I don’t make formal New Year resolutions, though I usually have some intentions in mind.

Last year I went to a Woodbrooke retreat, led by Ben Pink Dandelion and Alex Wildwood. During the weekend we were asked to write a rule to live by. On the morning of this new year I dug it out, and read it through.

We will all have our own intentions for 2024. This rule helps with mine.

Leading a guided loving life
• Seek to find a balance between the contemplative and active life.

Guided
• To be open to and accept God’s grace and guidance from wherever it comes.
• To collect myself on a regular basis throughout the day.
• To reduce the amount of time I talk and think from my ego.
• To worship with others at least once a week.
• To make silence and solitude an integral part of my daily life.
• To commit myself to my soul’s growth or better understanding of my self.
• To make space for the Spirit to work through me.

Being
• To mirror God’s love in how I interact with others.
• Continue to learn from the wisdom of others.
• Be honest in what I say, what I do, and what I say I will do.
• Balance an enabling structure with an openness to the spontaneous and unexpected.
• Enjoy humour and cultivate lightness of being.
• Balance joy, hope and celebration with an awareness of suffering.
• Live deeply in every moment and nourish the seeds of joy, love and understanding.
• Let trust replace fear and expansiveness replace limitation.
• Cultivate a more spacious consciousness and a wider perspective.
• Pause.

Loving
• Use my gifts in the service of others in whatever way love requires of me.
• Treat myself and others with compassion, including those with whom I disagree.
• Work towards peace, justice and equality.
• Practise generosity of spirit, money, time and energy.
• Seek to answer my unique calling and enable others to do so.
• In my daily life, tune into the oneness of all creation, the interconnectedness of all things. Join in ‘the dance of eternal life where spirit and matter dance together’ (Rumi).

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Comments

Thank you for this, Jennifer

I hope that I can benefit from learning and following your list which I have printed out and placed by my desk.

Perhaps in time I will have the confidence and guidance to supplement or adapt, but in the meantime I will enjoy the daily discipline of reverting to the words which I cannot repeat in my head without giving them your voice.

Bruce

By BruceJJCadbury on 11th January 2024 - 9:07

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Ah, thank you, Bruce. Never seen comments before!

By Jenniferdk on 14th January 2024 - 16:30

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