The Common Rule: Habits of Purpose for an Age of Distraction

by Justin Whitmel Earley

Only in retrospect did I realize that, while the house of my life was decorated with Christian content, the architecture of my habits was just like everyone else’s. And that life had been working for me—until it collapsed.

My head said one thing, that God loves me no matter what I do, but my habits said another, that I’d better keep striving in order to stay loved.

A “rule” is a set of habits you commit to in order to grow in your love of God and neighbor.

Let me tell you what is overwhelming: a default, normal, unexamined American life.

What I remember is having a dad who wanted to be with me.

we must urgently cultivate the virtue of curation.

Curating for beauty means moving past the idea that we must choose stories primarily based on their message and embrace the idea that we need beauty, full stop. And that beauty may be found in unlikely places.

As a lawyer, I think of justice as a fabric or a great woven tapestry. When the fabric of justice is torn, people fall through the holes—usually the most vulnerable people. Weaving the fabric of justice means mending the holes for the sake of the vulnerable. But there is more. Justice as a tapestry reminds us that justice is beautiful. The tapestry of justice properly woven is something worth hanging on the wall of the world. We need to see justice on display because it’s jaw-dropping gorgeous. This is why Micah wrote that we should not simply do justice but that we should love kindness (Micah 6:8).