Pray, study, work – Principles Day 13

Day Thirteen — The Three Ways of Service

Tertiaries desire to be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, whom we serve in the three ways of Prayer, Study, and Work. In the life of the Order as a whole these three ways must each find full and balanced expression, but it is not to be expected that all members devote themselves equally to each of them. Each individual’s service will vary according to his or her abilities and circumstances, yet each individual member’s Personal Rule of Life must include each of the three ways.

 I stand, rapt, gazing at the boundless Sea,

whose constant pulsing stillness seems to say,

‘Dive in. Swim deep. Immerse yourself in Me –

to float among My currents is to pray.’

  Such depths, beyond the ken of humankind,

I can’t begin to sound without Your grace.
O Boundless One, explode my puny mind,

and blind and heal my eyes to glimpse Your face. 

   Then, steeped in beauty, Love, O send me out

to live and serve in all I say and do;

to greet each task, each chore and chance, without

regret, each stranger as embodying You. 

  For love of boundless Love, may I not shirk

  the call to pray, to study and to work.