By that I just mean that while my whole life I have wanted to live for an outward purpose, I have also struggled my whole life with my own tendency towards inward disorder, and the habits of a culture that seem to exacerbate those tendencies.

 

The Common Rule is born out of my own struggle with that. I am former non-profit worker in China who suffered an anxiety collapse in the middle of becoming a father and a lawyer. At the time I was living with a lot of hopes and dreams about what I could do, but my day to day life was absolute chaos. It was in my crash that I realized that my hopes and dreams were not enough - I needed a reformation of everyday habits. I needed a set of guardrails that could save me from myself, and keep me pointed at my vision. 

 

It was in the wake of that dark phase of life that friends and family helped me get me on a healthy routine of daily and weekly rhythms which not only saved my life, but unexpectedly introduced me to a whole new way of life. The Common Rule is a version of those daily and weekly practices.

 

My effort to offer the hope and joy that I've found to the epidemic of anxiety, depression and overwork of so many well-intentioned people. It is a communal way of forming your life in the love of God & neighbor, amidst a culture beset by individualism and consumerism.

 

Whether you're an office worker trying to figure out how to make it, a stay-at-home parent trying to figure out how to stay sane, a church trying to figure out how to be missional in America, or an organization wanting to reform its work culture - I'd love to talk to you. I'd love to share with you the way the most ordinary habits of love can create extraordinary lives of light.