Program / Course 26: Comprehensive Assessment / Lesson 6.4
What you will learn
- Turn each practice in a rule of life into something concrete: what, when, where and how long.
- Design a simple record that shows whether the rule is being kept.
- Set review dates and decide in advance how to adjust the rule.
- Avoid scrupulosity and pride in measuring a spiritual practice.
The big idea
A rule that cannot be reviewed is a wish. To make it reviewable, each practice is written with a time, a place and a length, and a simple record shows whether it was kept. A review after a week, a month and three months shows what is working. The suggested pattern of 1, 7, 30 and 90 days is an option for the student. The record is a tool for honesty, not a way of earning anything, and it should be kept lightly, without anxiety or self display.
Key terms
- Concrete practice
- A practice stated with enough detail to know whether it was done: what, when, where and for how long.
- Habit tracker
- A simple record, on paper or in a notebook, marking each day a practice was kept.
- Review
- A scheduled look at how the rule is working, with a decision to keep, change or drop each practice.
- Scrupulosity
- An excessive and anxious concern about having done wrong or failed in a religious duty.
- Spiritual pride
- Taking satisfaction in one’s own practices and looking down on others. A danger that spiritual writers in many traditions have named.
- Adjustment
- A change in the rule made after review, to fit what has been learned.
Background
The course plan asks that the rule be concrete and reviewable, with practices that can be checked. The reason is simple. A statement such as I will pray more cannot be reviewed, but I will pray for ten minutes at seven each morning in the kitchen can be. A specific plan is also easier to start, since it removes the daily decision about when and how.
Review has its own dangers. Spiritual writers have long warned against turning a rule into a scoreboard. A tracker used to compare oneself with others, to boast or to feel crushed by a missed day misses the purpose. A better attitude is that of a gardener, who notes what is growing and what is not and adjusts, without anger. A missed day is simply a missed day. The rule is meant to serve love, and where it does not, it should be changed.
The suggested review pattern is the same one used elsewhere in this course: a look after 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. These are offered as one possible pattern. At each point the student asks which practices were kept, which were not and why, whether the rule is helping their love of God and others, and what to change. Each review is private and nothing is reported to the site.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Make each practice concrete
Rewrite each practice with four details: what you will do, when, where and how long. Example: Read one chapter of the Gospel of Luke, at the kitchen table after breakfast, about ten minutes. Include one practice that involves another person.
Step 2: Design a simple record
Draw a small grid in your notebook with the practices down the side and the days of the week across. Make a mark for each day a practice is done. Add a line for notes. Keep it small, and do not turn it into a source of pressure.
Step 3: Set review dates
Write the dates for review. One option is after 1 day, 7 days, 30 days and 90 days. At each, answer the four review questions: what was kept, what was not, what is the effect, what to change. Record the answers in a few lines.
Step 4: Decide the adjustments in advance
Write what you will do if a practice is missed more than half the time: shorten it, move it to a different time, or replace it. Decide this before you begin, so that you do not give up the whole rule when one part fails.
Step 5: Guard against pride and anxiety
Write a line that reminds you of the purpose: love of God and neighbor. If the record begins to produce pride or anxiety, stop using it for a time. If anxiety about religious duty is severe or persistent, a pastor, priest, counselor or physician may be able to help.
- Could someone else tell whether I did each practice?
- Are the times and places realistic for my actual week?
- What will I do if I miss several days?
- Is my record helping or pressing me?
- Which practices bring me closer to other people?
- When are my review dates?
Examples
Vague and concrete
Vague: I will pray more. Concrete: I will pray the Lord’s Prayer and one psalm for about ten minutes at seven each morning before work. (A constructed example.)
A review entry
Day 30: I kept the morning prayer on twenty four of thirty days, the weekly service on three of four weeks and the evening reading on only nine. I will move the reading to the morning and drop the weekly fast. (A constructed example.)
A warning sign
A student feels guilty after each missed day and has begun to judge others who keep fewer practices. The student pauses the record for a month and returns to the purpose of the rule. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
Catholic
Catholic spiritual writers, from Ignatius of Loyola to Francis de Sales, recommend a regular examination of how one is living and warn against scrupulosity. They advise discussing difficulties with a confessor or director.
Orthodox
Orthodox teachers insist that the prayer rule be given or approved by a spiritual guide and warn against pride and against taking on too much. The rule is a means of repentance and love, not an achievement.
Protestant
Protestant traditions such as the Puritans and early Methodists kept journals and accounts of spiritual life, while the Reformers warned against any trust in works for justification. Modern Protestant writers often combine both emphases.
Psychological and secular
Habit research suggests that specific plans of when and where, simple records and small beginnings make habits more likely to form. It also warns that harsh self criticism after a lapse tends to make things worse.
Why it matters
A reviewable rule connects intention and action. It lets the student learn from experience instead of guessing, and it protects against both neglect and obsession. Review turns a plan on paper into a practice in life.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Tracking spiritual practice is unspiritual.
Correction: It can be a help to honesty, as long as it does not become a source of pride or anxiety. Many spiritual writers recommend some form of regular examination.
Misunderstanding: Missing a day means failure.
Correction: It does not. The rule is a servant. Return to it the next day without self reproach.
Misunderstanding: The 1, 7, 30 and 90 day schedule is required.
Correction: It is a suggestion. The student may choose other dates or none. The site does not track or remind.
Knowledge check
What makes a practice concrete?
Stating what will be done, when, where and for how long. For example, ten minutes of prayer at seven in the morning at the kitchen table. With these details, the student and anyone who later reads the rule can tell whether it was done, and the plan is easier to start.
What four questions can guide a review?
Which practices were kept, which were not and why, what effect the rule is having on love of God and neighbor, and what to change. The answers are recorded briefly, and the student decides whether to keep, adjust or drop each practice.
What are the dangers of tracking a rule?
It can feed pride, if the student compares themselves with others, and anxiety, if every missed day produces guilt. The record is a tool for honesty. If it begins to cause either problem, the student should pause it and return to the purpose of the rule.
Is the review reported to the site?
No. The record and the reviews stay in the student’s own notebook. The site does not collect, grade or remind. The 1, 7, 30 and 90 day pattern is a suggestion for personal use, and no certificate or credit is attached to keeping the rule.
Think it through
- What would make you stop keeping the rule, and how might you prevent it?
- Do you tend toward neglect or toward excess in practices?
- Who in your life might notice if the rule changed you?
- What would a gentle review look like for you?
Independent assignment
A concrete and reviewable rule
In your own notebook, write about 400 words. Rewrite each practice of your rule with what, when, where and how long, draw a one week record grid, write your review dates and the four review questions, and decide in advance what you will do if a practice is missed repeatedly. Do not send this to anyone or post it anywhere.
Further study
- Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of St. Benedict Notice how concrete the rule is about times of prayer and work.
- John Cassian, The Conferences On moderation and discretion in ascetic practice.
- Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God On practicing God’s presence without elaborate rules.
- John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions Wesley’s sermons show a Protestant approach to methodical practice.
- Galatians 6:9 Be not weary in well doing.
- Luke 18:11 The Pharisee’s prayer, a warning about spiritual pride.