So let us hold this precious Rule in high esteem, have it always before our eyes, and even more in the heart, let us continually nourish our souls with the principles it contains, let us do nothing, say nothing, think nothing that is not in conformity with its spirit. It is only in this way that we shall be what God wants us to be and make ourselves worthy of our sublime vocation.
Retreat notes, October 1831, EO XV n. 163
Eugene writes about the Rule – but can I replace the word “Rule” with “Gospel”? Can I express the same sentiments about the Word of God, which is THE Rule of Rules.
I remember when I first came into AA – I wanted and needed it all become a part of me – it could not just be words written out that we called the 12 Steps – they needed to to be lived within me.
Much more so for me though when I met Jesus. That first conscious experience of God – the most intimate experience of my life which gave light to my universe. If AA had been the leveling of the ground within me then my experience of God was the cornerstone laid down and into my ground. My return to the Church became my foundation stones and it was from her, that my foundations were built – it took a very long time, ensuring that each stone was nestling and being built upon another as they slowly became one with the mortar of life and grace.
Meeting the Oblates became the framework for the house I was becoming, the walls made of oak and mahogany, strong, durable and rich, grown in the gardens of the Church. In those gardens surrounding me roots that ran both around and below my house becoming intertwined and a part of me. Meeting Eugene – he too becoming a part, sharing in this little heart residence that God had conceived.
Everything deepening and joining all of creation – joining with the other.
The Gospel – slowly word by word becoming a part of me as it had the apostles and Mary. Just as does this ‘Rule of Life’ even as I continue to struggle with some of it before surrendering myself. Falling in love with it even as I struggle to let go and surrender. I have borrowed this from the Oblates and do not wish to return it for it too is becoming a part of who I am and how I might live, as called by God.
The word ‘charism’ comes to mind – this gift of the Holy Spirit given and shared. The Gospel, the Word of God, given as gift – every bit as much as the Rule of Life (Constitutions and Rules) – same author, same depth, one a little more specific than the other depending on the senses of the person who is being nourished, fed by them. I am not sure I want to replace one with other, I like the idea of their same root. Each has its own flavour that points to the richness of the other.