Well Worth It

A thoughtful, honest, faithful, refreshing and helpful book for every Christian wanting to follow Jesus in this fragmented world. Read it and live! ( )

The pace and general setup of American life tends to rub me the wrong way when I really sit down and think about it. The Common Rule takes a look at some of the aspects of this, then lays out a plan for creating new habits to foster a lifestyle more in line with Christian convictions without abandoning the positive aspects of modern American life. The author shares intensely personal stories about implementing these habits and their impact on his life, which makes the book easier to read and not at all dry. At the end of each section is a breakdown of the habit discussed, simple examples of how to put it into practice, and a few references for further consideration.

The Verdict -

I find The Common Rule to be very useful and refreshing. It has a solid Christian foundation, but rather than harping on the basics, the author grows from this foundation. The analogy of a trellis is interwoven throughout the book, and it makes a lot of sense. You have to build a support system for good habits to grow on; The Common Rule provides practical suggestions for doing so. Somewhat surprisingly, this is my first five-star read of 2021. ( )

I always enjoy thoughtful books on spiritual discipline. This is is a wonderful one. Firstly, the eight habits the author promoted already scored high points in my mind the moment I first glanced at the table of contents. (By the way, the eight habits he laid out are: 1. Kneeling prayer daily at morning, midday and bedtime; 2. One daily meal with others; 3. One hour with phone off every day; 4. Scripture before phone every morning; 5. One hour of conversation with a friend weekly; 6. Curate media to a set length of time, such as four hours, every week, 7. Fast from something for 24 hours weekly; 8. Keep a weekly Sabbath, on a day that works for you.)

The author was a lawyer and a workaholic. He had a breakdown due to the stress at work and at home with two young children, which moved him to start pursuing better spiritual habits. So the type of habits he proposed are all tailored to a person who naturally gravitates to work :D I am totally not that type of person, so I'm not as persuaded of pursuing some of these habits as another person would have been. But the author made such a thoughtful, honest, and beautiful case for each of the habits, that I feel enlightened on my understanding of the gospel, human nature, the relationship between God and man...and many other things after reading his chapters on why those habits were meaningful to him. Some favorite quotes:

" To fully understand habits you must think of habits as liturgies. A liturgy is a pattern of words or actions repeated regularly as a way of worship.....My life was an ode of worship to omniscience, omnipresence, and limitlessness."

" What if the good life doesn’t come from having the ability to do what we want but from having the ability to do what we were made for? What if true freedom comes from choosing the right limitations, not avoiding all limitations? .... I decided limits were a better way of life, and that’s when everything changed. "

" Work is the place where I realize how much I am made to be like God and, at the very same time, how much I am not God.....God is different parts blue-collar worker, artist, inventor, tinkerer, gardener, and entrepreneur, in all cases working with his hands, getting dirty, and calling this creative act good."

" Once you know who you are in God, you can turn to the world in love. But if you don’t, you’ll turn to the world looking for love. So much of our identity hinges on this ordering."

" How do we create a life of friendship when we have neither the courage nor the time to talk? The answer is to practice courage and prioritize time. We need the courage to be vulnerable in a world that is sacred, and we need to make it a priority to take time in a world that is distracted."

" In the Bible, fasting is not just to reveal and clarify our own need for God. It is to lean into the suffering of the world itself and to long for God to redeem it."

" Our soul need more than to do nothing; they need to do restful things. "
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Really enjoyed this book. The theme is simple, create 4 daily habits and 4 weekly habits. Very practical and easy to start. The hard thing is actually doing it.

Always try to improve my habits and am always looking to make myself a better person. Perhaps, through this book, I finally realized what I am doing wrong. I'm too focused on me and not enough on Christ. This book taught me the importance of rest, actual rest, including time away from screens and distractions. ( )

Summary: Offers an alternative to the habits of our technological world that make us busy, distracted, anxious, and isolated by proposing a set of habits enabling us to live into loving God and neighbor, and into freedom and rest.

Justin Earley was a well-intentioned, missional Christian with ambitious goals who found himself having panic attacks and self-medicating with pills and alcohol and other destructive habits. A life of busyness shaped increasingly by technology was undermining his health and relationships. He recognized that he was being shaped by a set of cultural habits, ways of being that left him busy, distracted, anxious, and isolated. He saw that these habits were not only shaping his schedule; they were forming his heart. Along with some friends, he identified an alternate set of daily and weekly habits that they thought were consonant with their shared faith. He began sharing these with others, and eventually, in conversation with a pastor, realized that he and his friends had rediscovered an ancient practice going back to Augustine and Benedict of living under a rule of life, hence the name they adopted, The Common Rule.

The Common Rule Consists of four daily and four weekly habits. Two of each of these focus on loving God, and two on loving neighbor. Also two of each focus on embracing the good in God's world, and two of each focus on resisting destructive cultural practices, even as we pursue a life of love. The eight are:

Daily:

Kneeling Prayer morning, midday, and bedtime (Love God/embrace)
One meal with others. (Love neighbor/embrace)
One hour with phone off (Love neighbor/resist)
Scripture before phone (Love God/resist)

Weekly:

One hour of conversation with a friend (Love neighbor/embrace)
Curate media to four hours (Love neighbor/resist)
Fast from something for twenty-four hours (Love God/resist)
Sabbath (Love God/embrace)

After introductory chapters explaining the rule, one chapter of the book is devoted to each habit, explaining the rationale for each habit and concluding with practical instructions for practicing the habit. He concludes the book with the observation of art critic Michael Kimmelman that the greatest work of art is the "curating of all of life as a single witness to something grand" (p. 162). Earley then applies this to the work of habits in our lives. He writes:

"I believe that paying attention to the work of habit is similar. It is best thought of as giving attention to the art of habit. It isn't about trying to live right; it's about curating a life. It is the art of living beautifully" (p. 163).

The book concludes with an extremely helpful set of resources for individuals or groups (Earley believes it is especially helpful to practice these disciplines with others who voluntarily enter in so that individuals can encourage each other). The resources include the habits in a nutshell, a guide to trying one habit a week, trying the whole Common Rule for a week or a month, ways congregations can use the Common Rule, prayers for those trying the Common Rule, and ways the Common Rule might be used in different walks of life for skeptics, parents, at work, for artists and creatives, entrepreneurs, addicts, and those with mental illnesses.

It may be a small thing, but I appreciated the typography of the book. The medium blue of the cover is used for titles, subtitles, diagrams, quote grabs, and headers, setting this book off from most mono-chromatic texts. More substantively, the practical application of James K. A. Smith's ideas of cultural liturgies and the early fathers practice of rule of life makes for an inviting book grounded in rigorous thought and tested practice. Couple this with his own vulnerable example, and you have a winsome exposition of the practices that makes you want to start right away. The practices of scripture before phone, shutting off the phone for at least an hour, and curating media were both challenging and helpful for this reader whose life is too dominated by the smartphone. Whether you embrace the full rule, or substitute other practices, Earley's Common Rule offers an important alternative for people of faith to the ways our technological culture may lure us into frantic busyness, distraction, anxiety, and isolation instead of helping us curate beautiful lives of love for God and neighbor.

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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ( )