Alan Fadling's Blog, page 33

Love and Presence Are Central to Life

Blog by Gem Fadling

Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), was a prolific writer and retreat leader. She was mentored by Baron Friedrich von Hugel and credits him for inspiring her spiritual life. She wrote on the spiritual life for ordinary people. I’ve (Gem) been enjoying her writings on the spiritual journey.

 

Along with some of the other greats like Jean Pierre de Caussade, Evelyn knew the importance of the Sacrament of the Present Moment.

“God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament.” (Evelyn Underhill)

 

Lately, inspired by the Holy Spirit, as well as by Evelyn, I’ve been talking a lot about love and the present moment. I think it’s the Spirit’s persistent way of refocusing me on what is central. 

 

These days there are many reasons to feel either anxious and fearful, or distracted and checked out. I have never felt more inundated with contentious, divisive and anxiety-producing rhetoric. The information age is not treating us well.

 

Yes, there is much to “do” in response to what is going on culturally. But I also believe there is much to “be.” 

 

The world needs our grace-filled, wise, discerning and loving presence now more than ever. 

 

Love and presence may seem a bit lightweight for some. Some imagine they are about flitting about in a field of daisies. But I see them both as solid, weighty, life-giving, and necessary.

 

The invitation to true love and real presence is not simplistic, but is at the core of any response we undertake.

 

Let’s turn to what Jesus called the most important commandment:

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:28-31)

 

I, like you, have heard these verses hundreds, if not thousands, of times. And because this is so, their priority can be dimmed by sheer repetition.

 

So it’s good to circle back and pause. What if instead of taking this truth for granted, we lean into it even more fully. What does a life built on this truth look like…feel like?

Love God
Love myself
Love others

 

This is a life-giving flow. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). We love God because of God’s love for us. Receiving God’s love, we then extend it to others (love your neighbor as yourself). 

 

Presence is necessary because each of these loves is experienced in the present moment. As Evelyn said, “God is always coming to you in the present moment.”

 

Practicing presence is far from lightweight. It is actually quite difficult because our brains want to rehearse the past or project into the future. But right here and right now is where love is experienced and embraced.

 

Is your confidence in the centrality of love and presence growing? I hope so. Let’s reflect together for a moment…

 

Reflection

Check in with yourself by asking a few questions:

How aware am I of God loving me in this moment?
How might that inform my love for myself right now?
How would this overflow into how I treat others around me?

Love and presence are solid, foundational and necessary. Return to the center and find your heart encouraged.

 

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

Happy Holidays from Unhurried Living

This week Gem and I have paused our usual work with Unhurried Living to remember the gift of God-with-us in Christ, to reflect on the many ways God has been merciful and gracious to us, and to rest in all this goodness. Perhaps you, too, are able to pause from your day-to-day work. We send along our prayer that you’ll find your own communion with God in Christ come alive in this holiday season.

 

 

Photo by Chad Madden on Unsplash

ICDT #64: See the Day

 

As was typical of a season long ago, there was a pile of little boys in the back of my red minivan. We were driving down the street toward our home when I noticed some unusual dark grey storm clouds in the sky. Behind the clouds was a glowing blue sky, with splashes of pink and gold.

It was the beginning of sunset, and, evidently, my then 4-year-old son had never seen a sky exactly like that before.

“I never saw today!” he exclaimed as he peered out the van window, reacting to the sky.

The wonder in his voice floored me. The only way he could think of to describe this amazing sky which he had never seen before was, “I never saw today!”

What did his exclamation do for my mama’s heart? We’ll that’s where we’re headed.

I’m Gem Fadling and it’s time for ICDT.

Merry Christmas from Alan and Gem

Blog by Alan and Gem Fadling

Christmas blessings from Unhurried Living:

May you sense “God with us” no matter your circumstances.


May you encounter God’s goodness right where you are.


May you enjoy the people with whom you gather.


May you experience God’s great blessing as you celebrate the birth of Jesus.


May you be at home in the Prince of Peace.

 

Merry Christmas from our hearts to yours!

ICDT #63: Altars of Remembrance

 

As a part of my living room décor, I have two bowls of rocks. Of course this is lovelier than it sounds. The bowls are glass antiques from my Aunt Ruth’s collection and the rocks are all polished and colorful.

But these aren’t just rocks. They represent a bowlful of treasured memories created with my dad. Markers of time spent together.

I’m Gem Fadling and it’s time for ICDT.

The Gift of Scripture

Blog by Alan Fadling

Gem and I were discussing a podcast she’d heard in which the host talked about quoting the Bible “for those who feel the need for that sort of authority.” I remember hearing another prominent Christian leader say how some of his listeners and readers need him to “rub some Bible” on what he says. I appreciate both of these leaders but feel sad about this way of speaking about the holy Scriptures. 

There is, of course, a way of engaging or proclaiming the message of the Bible that is devoid of the grace and truth of God’s Spirit. This is perhaps what those leaders were reacting against, and I do too. My hope as I read, reflect on, study, and teach from the Scriptures is that I might be able to find and share wisdom that speaks to the central issues of living well. 

Too often, the New Testament gets turned into a law book. People speak of following biblical principles, but those principles aren’t always expressed as a way of living in God. Rather, they seem more like life-management strategies that can be utilized without having to interact with God. God becomes merely a lawgiver. I’m not sure I want a close relationship with someone who lays down the law and inevitably judges (condemns?) me based on our performance. 

What does it mean to live “biblically”? I don’t think it’s approaching the Bible as an “owner’s manual.” When did you last read through an owner’s manual? You might consult it if you have a question or a problem with your car or a household appliance, but otherwise you’re likely to ignore it. Living biblically is living wisely. Wisdom is the fruit of living in the truth. Wisdom knows how truth works. Wisdom is the fruit of communion with the all-wise God who speaks. 

The Bible is a wisdom book, a love book, a grace book. As such, it is priceless. I think of David’s heartfelt appreciation in Psalm 19:7-11 for the goodness of what God says. This is where the language of “sweeter than honey” and “more valuable than gold” feels richly true. 

There is a wholeness and wholesomeness in what God says that refreshes our whole being. The vision of reality God speaks to us enables us to live well. What God speaks to us is just so right that we can’t help but respond with joy. God speaks words that enlighten our hearts and minds so we see kingdom reality more clearly. There is a reverent purity to how God speaks that keeps helping us generation after generation. 

God speaks trustworthy words. As our vision of how God speaks to us in Scripture becomes clearer, we experience the profound treasure and delightful flavor of hearing God’s voice in our lives. Letting our lives be shaped and guided by God’s voice leads us more deeply into places of peace. Our confidence grows even when circumstances disappoint or threaten us. 

In what is often called Jesus’s high priestly prayer in John 17, we hear Jesus say to the Father, “For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours” (John 17:8-9). We believe what Jesus says not as a religious activity but as a response to the reality we experience in him. 

It is to the degree that I read the Scriptures listening for the caring, wise guidance of my Father in heaven that I come to treasure these ancient written words. When I approach the text to get an insight I can carry off with me into the day or with a task to add to my to-do list, I may grow to feel burdened by my ongoing engagement with Scripture. 

We are engaging Jesus, the living Word of God, as we read, reflect on, and even pray the written word of God in Scripture. When we are growing in communion with God through our engagement with Scripture, we find our hearts and minds growing in alignment with reality as God has created it. We may not always find what God says to be easy, but we will find that we are led into deeper life through his words. 

Taking our own self-decided path, unmindful of how God is guiding us, tends to lead to more anxiety and despair. We can discover the joy of living in a community of sisters and brothers who are learning the ways of God. A life lived in growing responsiveness to what God says will produce a heart and mind that grows in peace, joy, hope, and love. This is my experience over the decades as I’ve sought to engage the Scriptures day-to-day. 

For Reflection: 

What has been your relationship with the Scriptures these days? 
In what ways are you finding the Scriptures to be a place of living encounter with God? 
In what ways might you react to lesser visions of the Scriptures you’ve been exposed to? 
How would you like to talk with God about this?

 

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

ICDT #62: Timely Silence

 

In our book, What Does Your Soul Love?, I shared a few nuggets of wisdom from one of my mentors, Abbot David Geraets. But there’s one nugget I didn’t put into the book, and I’d like to offer it to you today.  A nugget about silence.

UL Podcast #238: A Year of Slowing Down: A Deeper Look

 

Last week, I shared some of the origin story of my latest book with InterVarsity Press, A Year of Slowing Down: Daily Devotions for Unhurried Living. In this episode, I’m going to share the essence of three of the daily readings from A Year of Slowing Down. I want to give you a feel for the resource. 

In this episode, I’m going to share the essence of three of the daily readings from A Year of Slowing Down. I want to give you a feel for the resource. 

So, for Day 29, I wrote about Psalm 33:5, which reads,

The Lord loves righteousness and justice;  the earth is full of his unfailing love.

If you’re going to learn to slow down to the pace of God’s kingdom, one of the realities you’re going to learn to trust is that the earth is full of God’s unfailing love, and that God loves making things right. He loves to restore attitudes, thinking, and ways of relating and living so they are what he intended. This is the fruit of communing with the God who does everything well. When we align ourselves more closely with God, he finds pleasure in this, and we find ourselves being made more whole and holy.

Sometimes all we can see is the bad in this world. We hear news stories or witness global events and we see the injustice. Where is God in this? Despite the apparent evidence, God is working toward righteousness and justice. God is at work transforming our individual lives so that we, together, might bring change to the world around us. But that takes time. Hasn’t it taken time for God to bring about the transformation your life has needed?

 

Listen as I talk about the benefits of the book as well as how to best engage with the devotions.

Light Has Come to the World

Blog by Gem Fadling

Today’s message is short and, oh, so very sweet. Enjoy the beatitudes from Matthew 5:3-10 (First Nations Version).

Creator’s blessing rests on the poor, the ones with broken spirits. The good road from above is theirs to walk.   


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk a Trail of Tears, for he will wipe the tears from their eyes and comfort them.   


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who walk softly and in a humble manner. The earth, land, and sky will welcome them and always be their home. 


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right again. They will eat and drink until they are full. 


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are merciful and kind to others. Their kindness will find its way back to them--full circle. 


Creator’s blessing rests on the pure of heart. They are the ones who will see the great spirit. 


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who make peace. It will be said of them, ‘They are the children of the great spirit!’ 


Creator’s blessing rests on the ones who are hunted down and mistreated for doing what is right, for they are walking the good road from above.

 

Do any of these describe you?  

Broken spirit
Walking a trail of tears
Walking softly and in a humble manner
Hunger and thirst for wrongs to be made right again
Merciful and kind to others
Pure of heart
Maker of peace
Mistreated for doing what is right

 

If so, remember that you are known and seen by our loving Creator. This Christmas season, allow yourself to be held in God’s loving arms. 

Allow gracious space for brokenness and tears. Continue to walk humbly and to thirst. Remain merciful and pure. Make peace with others and persevere under hardship.

This is a real-life perspective, and it’s good to acknowledge what is happening and to receive from God in the midst.

Seek peace, pursue goodness and don’t give up. Light has come to the world. Receive the gift.

 

 

Photo from IVPress

ICDT #61: Spiritual Leadership as Everyday Influence

 

Today I’m talking with my sweetheart and husband of 37 years, Alan Fadling, and we’ll be discussing unhurried spiritual leadership. This is Alan’s expertise and I want you to learn from the best.

Alan’s message has been forming over decades. And I’m sure you’ll hear echoes of things I’ve shared with you before. That’s because we’ve taken this journey together, and I count this as a great grace.