At our church this Fall, we are kicking off a drive to have everyone develop a spiritual plan. Here's mine and the letter I wrote to the other folks at St Patrick's Church Lexington about my spiritual plan:

Dear St. Patrick’s family,

Peter asked me if I would be willing to share my spiritual plan with St. Patrick’s as another example of what living the four practices looks like (see below). I, of course, am happy to do so, but I also wanted to take this opportunity to tell you why I developed a spiritual plan. You see, this is the third year I have had a spiritual plan, so this is something I have been doing for some time.

By way of explanation, let me start by saying that I work in the health care arena. One issue that is discussed among people like me is how best to treat acute versus chronic disease. An acute condition is something sudden, like a broken arm or a heart attack. It requires an immediate, quick response. Chronic conditions include diabetes, heart disease or asthma. Chronic diseases require steady, long-term treatment to manage everyday problems but also to prevent long-term catastrophic consequences of the disease. Unfortunately, our health care system is really good at responding to acute episodes or outbreaks and really bad at managing chronic disease over the long term.

I have learned that there are a lot of parallels between how health care deals with diseases and the way Christians and the church as a whole deals with sin and self. Most of my life I have dealt with the acute issues – the occasional money problems, marital squabbles, angry outbursts, broken relationships, depression about my inability to really change – by running to Jesus and asking him to fix the situation, which he usually graciously did. However, it wasn’t until the last few years through God’s grace that I recognized this destructive cycle and I realized that Christ wanted to do much more in me. But I had to completely change the way I approached following him. I was just dealing with the acute episodes, but he wanted to get to the root causes of these problems by dealing with my chronic disease of sin and self.

I began examining more closely what the Bible and Christians throughout all ages have said are important to progress in the faith. Not surprisingly, my search showed me that ancient and modern Christians agree that practices oriented around worship, community, formation and mission are critical to transformation. So, after prayer and searching, I drew up a spiritual plan and began using it as a way to help me work with God on the transformation of my character and life.

I look back on too much of my Christian life as a lot of churchified busyness. I may have looked like the model Christian on the outside but God and I knew the real truth. There was so much activity but so little substance.

I am tired of all that. I may not be where I want to be yet, but I know God is at work in me through these practices I am following daily, weekly and seasonally. I believe I am now more on the path to true discipleship than I have ever been in my life. And it’s not because I have a checklist of to do’s – it’s because I can see God changing me from the inside out.

I consider my spiritual plan to be just baby steps. I wish I could find time to read the Bible two times every day and pray four times a day. But with four kids and a full time job, I am trying to what is "doable" for me.

Maybe my experience and my plan will be helpful to you in some way. After all, I am just a layperson just like you. At the very least, hopefully you can say, “If Trudi can do it, then maybe I can too.”

Blessings and God’s peace be with you, Trudi

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Trudi’s Rule of Life for 2007

Worship
o Attend weekly worship at St. Patrick’s
o Participate in special services throughout the church year
o Practice daily prayer and worship (see below)

Community
o Serve as a lay leader and helper during church services
o Serve as Toddler Church teacher
o Show hospitality by bringing refreshments for church and inviting people over after church
o Foster community and formation through Order of St Brigid

Formation
oPrayer & Scripture:
 Use Book of Common Prayer or other guide at least 4 times a week for prayer & scripture reading
 Develop habit of saying Luther’s morning and evening prayers when getting up and going to bed
o Spiritual Direction:
 Meet my spiritual director monthly
 Develop at least one Anam Chara friendship
Solitude & Reflection:
 Go on a personal retreat at least once a year

Mission
o Use excellence in my vocation as a public servant to improve the lives of vulnerable and at-risk individuals
o Invite friends and acquaintances to visit St Patrick’s and welcome guests who visit
o Tithe to St Patricks, sponsor Compassion International child, and participate in St Patricks service/giving opportunities