Alan Fadling's Blog, page 45

Presence for the Sake of Others

During this season of Advent, we might hear the word Emmanuel quite often. God with us. I (Gem) invite you to linger with this idea for a few moments as we consider the formidable work of presence.

 

By becoming present, I remember and have a chance to encounter what is. God is here. God is with me. I am with God. I am in God. God is in me (John 17:22-23).

 

When we pause for just a moment, we can remember what is. Right now, where you sit, close your eyes and take a really deep breath. Then slowly exhale and relax your shoulders as you breathe out.

 

Now, take this in: We live in a kingdom reality with a loving God who is always attuned to us. You are always safe in God’s presence. Yes, exactly as you are now, without any changes, you are safe and welcome in God’s presence. That’s unconditional welcome. That’s love.

 

We learn to become present so we can be aware of what is happening in our life of transformation. By becoming present we can begin to notice and acknowledge what is going on inside us. We are being invited, guided, nurtured, and transformed. How will you know what your next invitation is unless you have trained yourself to listen? Listening takes time…and it takes presence.

 

This is why presence is such a formidable word. Presence is not merely sitting around in perfect peace doing half as much as we normally would with no cares in the world. That is not an unhurried life.

 

An unhurried life is present, awake, aware, and patiently ready. An unhurried life is responsive, prepared, and on the path of healing. An unhurried life takes courage because you are saying you want the deep dive. You are willing to be changed from the inside out. You are willing to engage your relationships and work from a place of whole love and lived grace.

 

Our lives have many ups and downs, emotions and struggles. Development can be uncomfortable. However, we can learn to take it all in stride. Over time our fears can decrease and our stamina can increase. Our anxieties can diminish and our wisdom can grow.

 

We do all this not for our own enjoyment or benefit, although growth like this is wonderful. We do it for the sake of others. Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus came to inhabit a human body, to share in our sufferings, and to show us what love truly is.

 

An unhurried life that follows the model of Jesus is a rich and full life of heartfelt engagement in both rest and work. It’s God with us at all times and in all places.

 

So remember, you aren’t becoming present just for a sense of inner peace. You are becoming present because it is one of the first steps toward lived hope, peace, joy, and love.

 

Let every heart prepare him room!

 

Reflection

What is one next, simple thing you can do today to become more present?
As you become a little more present, what invitation arises out of that moment?
How will you respond?

UL Podcast #204: When Everything's on Fire (Brian Zahnd)

 

Today, I’m talking with Brian Zahnd about his latest book "When Everything’s On Fire". The subtitle is Faith Forged From the Ashes. Brian’s book speaks to just how much this season in which we found ourselves over the last couple of years has tested our faith. A word some use to describe this experience is “deconstruction.” 

 

Some think that deconstruction is a new idea, but something like deconstruction has always been a part of how our faith is refined. Sometimes, we are given beliefs in our childhood or youth that simply don’t reflect the truth of God or the wisdom of Scripture nearly as well as they might have. Losing beliefs is not necessarily the same as losing faith. Brian’s book addresses these realities with theological richness and spiritual depth. 

Connect with Brian on his website or on social media... Instagram or twitter

ICDT #15: Peace: The Practice of SLOWing

 

This is the second week of Advent and our focus is peace. Over the course of Advent I’m sharing one helpful spiritual practice per week to help us stay centered on the season.

Today we are going to try on a practice called SLOW. SLOW stands for stop, linger, observe and wonder. You can use SLOW right there in the middle of a busy day. This idea first came to mind when I would catch myself feeling stressed but didn’t really know why. Sometimes it’s just a habit I carry. So I would stop, drop my shoulders and try to become present in the moment. SLOW emerged from my own need to choose a different way to make my way through my day.

As we focus on peace this week, I do pray that SLOW will help you lower your shoulders, as again, we learn to let go and receive what the Prince of Peace offers to us.

Let’s try SLOWing together.

The Importance of Listening to God

Over the years, I (Alan) have led hundreds of retreats that have at their center a few hours to be alone and quiet in listening prayer.

 

Earlier this year, one participant shared a conversation she had with a pastor who suggested there is no biblical precedent for listening prayer. I found that comment interesting , and as I reflected on it, I had many thoughts in response. Here are some bullet points that came to mind:

 

The whole of scripture is an extended story of conversation after conversation between God and people. Such a conversation obviously involves listening as well as speaking. Why would we expect things to be different in our era when we believe that God is now fulfilling everything the scriptures have been about? Why resist the expectation that God would speak today?

 

If we are not listening to God’s voice, then there is no real reason for the biblical practice of discernment.

 

We theologize away gifts of the Spirit that imply hearing God’s voice. Is this really biblical, or might it actually be an argument from a lack of experience?

 

Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 speaks of drawing near to God and listening.

 

Why do we interpret biblical occurrences of the word “listen” into the practical equivalent of “read” (i.e., “the Bible”)? The scriptures speak of both reading and listening.

 

To convince ourselves that listening to God is a misguided idea, we highlight the weirdest, most distorted stories we can find of people hearing and trusting strange things that they attribute to God. This doesn’t help.

 

Jesus said he only spoke what he heard the Father saying. How did he know what those words were if he did not hear them from the Father, presumably in prayer? Is it not possible (even likely) that part of our following Jesus involves expecting something similar in our own experience? He does say that his sheep follow him because they know his voice (John 10:4).

 

There are those who say that because we have the scriptures we don’t need God’s voice today. Why do we think this? Do we not see God speaking even in the book of Acts? Do we not see evidence of God’s voice in the lives of the early church fathers and mothers?

 

Seasons when the word (read “voice”) of God was rare were dark times in which the people of God experienced great distance from God. Why would we think this is any different today?

 

Even those who don’t believe in listening prayer will seek to authorize a decision or action by saying they “feel led.” How does one discern this “being led” apart from listening?

 

Even with all the misguided stuff that was going on in the church at Corinth in terms of “hearing God’s voice” and such, Paul never urges them to stop listening or practicing certain spiritual gifts. Rather, he gives strong direction for how to do so properly and rightly.

 

What human-to-human relationship ever comes to a point where conversation is no longer needed? Why do we expect that our relationship with God would come to such a point?

 

Without some sense of God’s voice, even in our engagement with scripture, the Christian life ends up as mostly knowing about God rather than knowing God personally. Without some element of the mystery of hearing God’s voice, that knowledge eventually puffs a person up instead of building them up.

 

Reflection

What has been your experience of listening to God? Has it been positive? Negative? I’d welcome your responses to these thoughts.

 

(Purchases made via the links may provide an Amazon Affiliate commission fee to Unhurried Living. This adds nothing to the cost of your purchase.)

 

Photo by Alireza Attari on Unsplash

ICDT #14: Hope - The Practice of Unpacking

 

This is the first week of Advent and for the next few weeks, we’ll walk together toward the birth of Christ, culminating on Christmas Day.

For this season of Advent, I thought it would be good to share a few helpful spiritual practices. So we’ll engage hope, peace, joy and love in this way for the next four weeks. More than teaching these practices, we will experience them together.

On today’s episode we’ll experience the Practice of Unpacking.

Enjoy this episode and the entire Advent series.

UL Podcast #203: Slowing to the Pace of Love

 

Think about the stories when Jesus and his disciples are on their way somewhere. The disciples often seem agenda-oriented and, therefore, they become quite frustrated when Jesus keeps stopping to talk with or to help one individual along the way. They seem to think that all this stopping is getting in the way of arriving where they are going.

They feel like they are going to serve a whole village and Jesus keeps stopping to help one person. Why does he do this? Because, better than any of us, Jesus lives at the pace of perfect love.

His disciples feel like like Jesus is inefficient. But love often feels inefficient to us. Let's hear more on today's episode of The Unhurried Living Podcast.

UL Podcast #202: The Monastic Heart (Sr. Joan Chittister)

 

 Welcome Sister Joan Chittister to the Unhurried Living Podcast where we are talking about her latest book, "The Monastic Heart" where she offers simple, practical, deep wisdom. You know when someone has lived truth well when they can make things so very easily understandable. 

Sr. Joan Chittister is an internationally known author and lecturer, and the executive director of Benetvision, a resource and research center for contemporary spirituality. She is past president of the Conference of American Benedictine Prioresses and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Her books include:

The Gift of Years 
The Breath of the Soul
Called to Question 
Following the Path 

She is also a member of the Benedictine Sisters of Erie, Pennsylvania.

ICDT #13: Symptoms of Exhaustion

 

Today, on the I Can Do That Podcast, we’re talking about the symptoms of exhaustion.

It’s easy to miss hints that you might need to ease up and rest. So today I wanted to briefly list a few symptoms that may reveal your level of tiredness.

You find yourself complaining a lot. You’re bugged by everything.
You have a decreased ability to concentrate. Brain fog is diminishing your focus.
You have a shorter fuse. You notice your angry outbursts are increasing or intensifying.
You find that your creativity is waning. The well feels dried up.
You find that your numbing habits are increasing (eating, drinking, shopping, media).

This is not an exhaustive list and these ideas are merely anecdotal and are not prescriptive. Even though there may be a cluster of reasons why you are experiencing these dynamics, tiredness is usually one of them.

Listen to today’s episode which includes 11 very practical ideas for bringing a bit of rest or refreshment into your days. 

Expanding Care Through Prayer

Over the years, I (Alan) have experienced a connection between praying for people and caring for people.

 

Our life of serving others is richer when our circle of prayer is larger than our circle of care. The Spirit of God wants to make our hearts more spacious in our caring about others. His love will always be greater than mine, but God dwells in me and wants to pour His love not only into my heart but through my heart into others. To live the lifestyle of the overflowing cup, I must learn that God is always pouring and that I can welcome God’s infilling at any time.

 

The more time we spend in the presence of God, thinking of people and remembering their needs to His grace, the more we experience God’s concern for those hurts and needs. This enriches my interactions with them and gives me insight into how I might serve them. It “peoplizes” (a word coined by my mentor, Chuck Miller) my life and work.

 

If my heart lacks care for a particular person, God’s Spirit is inviting me to bring them into His presence. Learning to hear His heart of love for them will kindle the same love in me.

 

Reflection questions

Who would you like to extend care to in your life these days?
What would it look like to bring them into God’s presence for a few minutes of listening prayer?
What might God give you that would become a blessing to them?

 

(Purchases made via the links may provide an Amazon Affiliate commission fee to Unhurried Living. This adds nothing to the cost of your purchase.)

 

Photo by Jeremy Yap on Unsplash

ICDT #12: The In Between Matters

 

Sometimes we imagine that the in between parts are unimportant. We only live for the big and notable moments. And, typically, these are the moments we post on social media. Social media can be a place where we curate our own version of quick transitions, showing the best and moving our story along.

But most of our life is in the in-between. That’s why presence and being in the moment matters. It can be easy to waste time or numb ourselves in those moments if we think they are just filler.

Rather than doing quick transitions through life, remind yourself that every moment matters because every moment is a moment 

with

 God. The in-between matters. The in between is where the people are and it’s where life happens.