While I was reading Subversive Orthodoxy this week, I encountered a definition of faith that was new to me. The definition was quoted from Northrop Frye. It goes like this:

An active faith is a continuous sequence of committed actions guided by a vision.

I like Northrop’s definition because it brings faith into something tangible and intentional. It also reminds me of the role of our imagination and it’s power to guide and shape us.

Our community is trying to determine what rhythms and practices are need to help keep our vows. Over the past few days, I have been trying create some material to facilitate a discussion on this topic. My hope was to try and get some input from some of the other religious orders that we have connections with. Thus far, I don’t think I will be able to get more input by the time we have our meeting, but I did stumble upon someone else who provided me with timely and very wise input.

During some of my search for more information about how other communities keep their vows, I found a blog called A Nun’s Life that is authored by Julie Vieira. Today she has a post about religious life not being a popularity contest. I really appreciated her thoughts and the subtle nuance that she sees from the concern about the size.

Here is a quote from her post about interest in numbers:

Jesus himself said, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them” (Matthew 18:20). He did not say, “Where institutions, buildings, and popularity abound, there I am.” Certainly, Jesus is there wherever and however many we are. No question about that. But size was not the criterion for following the gospel, being a viable community, or pursuing a mission that God planted in people’s heart.

The more subtle point that she makes is about the focus of the thinking about numbers and size. Instead of paraphrasing, I’ll quote her directly:

When the focus of religious life becomes the religious community itself or the individual herself/himself, then something has gone terribly wrong. Religious life is not about any one of us or our community. To get caught up in such navel-gazing is to neglect the whole reason religious life exists: to serve the world and Church. It’s about MISSION. Without mission, it doesn’t matter how many people come through the convent doors or how consecrated you look or what lofty ideals you subscribe to.

It is about MISSION. This is the input that I was missing. I think in trying to create a community it is easy for us to lose sight of our mission. Thank you Julie for reminding me.

So what is out mission and how do we focus on it? Maybe that should be held to tightly as we try and create practices and rhythms for keeping our vows.

For the sake of communicating more about our community and to follow this thought maybe I should mention a few words about or mission. We see our mission as modeling and teaching an integrated way of life that is leveraged for the good of the world and is inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus. A life of love for our creator and creation.

So what should be the measure of our community? I could take Julie’s lead (it’s a good one), but I would like to hear from others what they think. Any input?

Our community decided to take vows last weekend to try and make our commitment to following the way of Jesus more specific and accountable. We want to seek a way of life that we believe moves us closer to becoming like the master. To do this, we feel that it is necessary to create some accountability and solidarity with our community. We hope to accomplish this by taking vows around the seven rhythms we have come up with.

Simplicity Service Prayer Creativity Obedience Community Love

Many people are longing for a more committed and accountable way of life that is consistent with their values and the teaching they receive. The typical model followed by most churches tends to focus primarily on teaching with little or no connection between the doctrine or ideas and how they are integrated into our daily lives.

We long for wholeness and integration. We long for our lives to be lived out in a way that reflects our values.