Jeremy Taylor\u2019s Holy Living and Holy Dying <\/em>is a classic of Anglican spirituality.\u00a0 Taylor was a seventeenth-century divine (1613-67) who managed to flourish and indeed thrive under both Anglo-Catholic Archbishop William Laud and Puritan Oliver Cromwell.\u00a0 Known for the beauty of his prose style and the depth of his spiritual theology, here are some of his prescriptions for using time toward a holy life.<\/p>\n 1. In the morning upon awaking, think first about God.\u00a0 Do the same as your last thought before you close your eyes at night.\u00a0 Begin and end the day with devotions.<\/p>\n 2. When working at your daily calling (occupation), be diligent.\u00a0 Do not \u201clightly or without reason\u201d neglect it during those times given for its pursuit.<\/p>\n 3. The resting days of Sabbaths and Christian feasts should not be days of idleness, but given to \u201cworks of religion and charity.\u201d<\/p>\n 4. Avoid the company of drunkards and busybodies who talk to little purpose.<\/p>\n 5. In the midst of the works of your calling, often retire to God in short prayers and calling out to God.<\/p>\n 6. He that is appointed to minister in holy things must not suffer secular affairs and sordid arts to eat up great portions of his employment: a clergyman must not keep a tavern, nor a judge be an innkeeper.<\/p>\n 7. If you are learned, you know how not to waste time: bring a book along to \u201cimprove the day\u201d while you are forced to pause with nothing to do.<\/p>\n 8. Avoid all \u201cdelicacy and niceness\u201d in clothing, that is, spending too much care for your clothes.<\/p>\n 9. Avoid curiosity in things that don\u2019t concern you.<\/p>\n 10.\u00a0 Let not your recreations be lavish spenders of your time, but choose those which are healthy, short, transient, and recreational.<\/p>\n 11. Set apart some part of the day for morning and evening devotions; let \u201cnothing but a violent, sudden, and impatient necessity\u201d keep you from them.\u00a0 Sir Thomas More told the king, who called for More when More was at his public prayers, that he would come as soon as he finished performing his service to the King of Kings.<\/p>\n 12. Set aside some \u201csolemn time every year\u201d to quit all worldly business and attend wholly to fasting and prayer, confession, self-examination, and meditation.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Jeremy Taylor\u2019s Holy Living and Holy Dying is a classic of Anglican spirituality.\u00a0 Taylor was a seventeenth-century divine (1613-67) who managed to flourish and indeed thrive under both Anglo-Catholic Archbishop William Laud and Puritan Oliver Cromwell.\u00a0 Known for the beauty of his prose style and the depth of his spiritual theology, here are some of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2043,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5265","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n