Rule #1

In our house, we have a short list of rules. Some are silly like Rule #3: "Don't sit in Mom's camp chair" and some sound silly, but really are serious like Rule #5: "Don't melt on a rainy day."

Rule #1 was established a while ago, but I didn't realize how important this rule would be for our family when I made it. What is Rule #1?

Two words: Keep Calm.

When you live in a house with as many girls in it as I do, it is important to have proper rules in place to limit drama. It is worth almost any effort to avoid the "freakout snowball" whence everyone in the house melts to pieces over something that is relatively trivial, say, a missing hairbrush when we running are late. Hence: The Rules.

Yet, while I knew Rule #1 was a practical necessity, I did not realize how much it was also a spiritually-practical necessity until reading a small but life-changing book called Searching For and Maintaining Peace by Father Jacques Philippe. It seems every new section explored new reasons why maintaining a calmness of spirit, or seeking always to hold on to that peace that passes understanding, is the #1 Rule in the spiritual life.

I've been at this spiritual life thing since I was baptized several decades ago. I have to admit I was really taken aback to realize that I missed this rather key point: The quest for peace should take precedence over every other spiritual pursuit (including virtue building or building a strong prayer life). Yet Father Philippe's arguments for seeking peace as the first goal of the spiritual life were rock solid:

1. God is the God of Peace, not of turmoil.
2. God can't work in your soul if you don't let Him.

In short: if we want God to act, we have to simmer down and actually let Him take control.

So whether we are dealing with small things like missing hairbrushes, silly things like someone sitting in our favorite chair, or big things like facing a terrible enemy in a difficult situation, we must not be so foolish as to face our difficulties alone and handle it with our own feeble power.

We must always remember Rule #1:

"It would be well to keep this in mind, because, quite often in the daily unfolding of our Christian life it happens that we fight the wrong battle...We fight on a terrain where the devil subtly drags us and can vanquish us, instead of fighting on the real battlefield..."

"The believer, throughout the entire battle, whatever the degree of violence, will strive to maintain peace of heart in order to allow the God of Armies to fight for him." Fr. Jacques Philippe