Alan Fadling's Blog, page 48

Shiizakana: Make Your Own Creative Choice

One of my favorite series on Netflix is Chef’s Table. I (Gem) have never before experienced a docuseries quite like this. Each episode tells the story of a single chef. The cinematography is exceptionally beautiful, the storytelling is compelling, and the food is unique and gorgeous. Using slow motion and lighting effects, the creators transport me to another world, where I love getting lost in the mood and the story.

 

After stopping off in dreamland and wishing I was a world-renowned chef (although I don’t really want to do all the hard work it takes to get there), I realize what’s really happening: I am being inspired to be who I am and to share what I have with creativity and passion.

 

Each chef is as unique as the food they serve, and they have found ways to express themselves that are true to their gifts and vision. As with most great stories, the hero does not receive rave reviews at the beginning. They learn and grow and fail their way through their careers. They experience setbacks and heartbreaks. But they don’t give up. They make their way to the top of their game and now enjoy the fruits of that labor.

 

Again, I am always inspired by each chef’s uniqueness. Some are quirky, some are intense, some are eccentric, some are peaceful, and all are gifted in expressing their culinary vision in their own way.

 

One episode of Chef’s Table highlighted Chef Niki Nakayama from Los Angeles. She creates a modern twist on the Japanese tradition of kaiseki. Within this very precise mode of presenting a multi-course meal, she often serves one dish that is completely non-traditional. There is a term for this: shiizakana, which translates to “not bound by tradition, chef’s choice.”

 

In our own lives some traditions are helpful and some are merely ruts. If you are stuck in a rut, it is good to remember that, at times, you can color outside the lines, try out a new path, and find ways to express your truest, most creative self.

 

How are you struck by this idea of being who you are and sharing from that? In our Unhurried Living paradigm, it really does begin on the inside and at God’s initiative.

 

Here is some food for thought: 

How are you being inspired to be all of who you are? By that I mean, how are you continuing to respond to God’s initiative to form you over time (Philippians 1:6)?
Are you stuck in any ruts? Are you engaged in unhelpful practices into which you could interject some shiizakana?
If you are in a learn-grow-fail process, how are you being inspired to keep going?
Like Chef Nakayama, how might you take some habit or convention and inject your own innovation into it?

Photo by Peter Dawn on Unsplash

ICDT #5: Transition: Loving What Is

 

If you could see me right now you would notice that my hair is at least four different colors. I tried easing into my grey hair last year about three months into the pandemic. “This is the perfect time,” I thought. But then, as it grew out, I began to doubt the aging process and decided to color again.

 

Well, last November I decided to go for it one more time. So about four inches from my roots down is a wonderful mix of white and black, and the rest is a couple of shades of brown. Fortunately, from the front, it works and I look like I have some nice white highlights on the edges.

 

What does my hair color have to do with anything? Well, today, on the I Can Do That Podcast, we are talking about transition. I hope you’ll join me.

If you could see me right now you would notice that my ...

 

If you could see me right now you would notice that my hair is at least four different colors. I tried easing into my grey hair last year about three months into the pandemic. “This is the perfect time,” I thought. But then, as it grew out, I began to doubt the aging process and decided to color again.

 

Well, last November I decided to go for it one more time. So about four inches from my roots down is a wonderful mix of white and black, and the rest is a couple of shades of brown. Fortunately, from the front, it works and I look like I have some nice white highlights on the edges.

 

What does my hair color have to do with anything? Well, today, on the I Can Do That Podcast, we are talking about transition. I hope you’ll join me.

UL Podcast 194: Hope Always (Matthew Sleeth)

 

Today, Alan talks with Dr. Matthew Sleeth about his latest book, Hope Always: How to Be A Force for Life in a Culture of Suicide. It’s a difficult but timely theme. We’ve been living through a season that has stretched many of us to what feel like our very limits. 

 

By the way, this episode is airing at the end of September, which has been Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. It seemed to be a very good time to have this conversation about a reality that is just the opposite of God’s great desire that we would live, and live abundantly and joyfully. 

 

Dr. Matthew Sleeth is a former emergency room physician and chief of the hospital medical staff who resigned from his position to teach, preach, and write about faith and health. Dr. Sleeth has spoken at more than one thousand churches, campuses, and events, including serving as a monthly guest preacher at the Washington National Cathedral. Recognized by Newsweek as one of the nation’s most influential Christian leaders, Dr. Sleeth is the executive director of Blessed Earth and author of numerous articles and books, including Reforesting Faith and 24/6. 

Finding Confidence in God

Psalm 25 is an example of David expressing his confidence in God to God:

 

In you, Lord my God,

      I put my trust. (v. 1 NIV)

 

It’s a good thing to say aloud in God’s presence. I began to express my confidence in God more than forty years ago when I was a high school student. I had barely the faintest idea of just how reliable and faithful God would be in my life.

 

Today, I can offer such words of confident praise from deeper experience and insight. I have experienced the unfailing trustworthiness of Jesus in my own lifetime and again. I have witnessed the work of His hands in the lives of so many others around me. I’ve come to be deeply confident that Christ can be fully trusted.

 

When feelings of anxiety arise in me, I find it easier now than I once did to orient my heart toward God-with-me and offer simple words of confident appreciation.

 

I trust in you;
      do not let me be put to shame,
      nor let my enemies triumph over me.
No one who hopes in you
      will ever be put to shame,
but shame will come on those
      who are treacherous without cause. (vv. 2–3)

Sometimes when I remember that I’m in the presence of God, I may also become aware of some way in which I’ve come up short or even crossed a line in my life. I may feel shame, and shame then tempts me to try hiding myself from God and others. I fear dishonor or disgrace. Even in my felt guilt or shame, I come into the presence of One who is merciful, gracious, loving, and forgiving. I receive grace in place of shame. I receive the affection of God in place of the temptation to see myself as eminently rejectable.

 

God is inviting us to recognize his faithfulness. God is welcoming us to find ourselves at home in his mercy and grace. Let’s rest deeper in this very good place.

 

Reflection Questions 

In what or whom are you putting your trust these days? What messages are you believing that are shaping your decisions, words, and actions? Are there ways you’d like to follow David’s example here and “put your trust in God?”

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

UL Podcast 193: Anxiety and Our Hurried Soul

 

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, Alan is talking with friends Jeb Shore and John Freeman about the effect of hurry on our souls and the correlation that people make between anxiety and concern. We invite you to listen in on this leadership conversations that will help you to develop healthy rhythms of rest and work, and to live fuller in friendship with God. 

UL Podcast 192: Anxiety and Our Hurried Soul

 

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, Alan is talking with friends Jeb Shore and John Freeman about the effect of hurry on our souls and the correlation that people make between anxiety and concern. We invite you to listen in on this leadership conversations that will help you to develop healthy rhythms of rest and work, and to live fuller in friendship with God. 

ICDT #4: Overwhelm and Resilience

 

Picture this. I’m in Hawaii enjoying some wave jumping near the shoreline. It’s all going fine until a sudden, rogue wave comes in behind me and sends me into a spin. Arms and legs are now flying and my prescription sunglasses are knocked off and lost forever. A moment of play turns into a nose full of water and an unexpected scare.

Do you ever feel like this in your life? You’re just out there trying to enjoy the waves of relationships and responsibilities. And all of a sudden, a big one rolls in and crashes into you. But…with water up your nose, and a little discombobulated, you gather yourself and head back out, ready to try again.

Today on the I Can Do That Podcast we are talking about overwhelm and how we might come up for some air. Listen now. Link in bio.

I Can Do That!

Fun news! My new podcast launched two days ago, on September 13! Today, I’m sharing a bit about the podcast, and I hope you’ll listen and subscribe.

 

My podcast is called I Can Do That! and I invite you to join me at the intersection of grounded optimism and practical spirituality.

 

Grounded optimism means that our feet are firmly planted on the ground. We are unafraid to acknowledge what is actually occurring in us and around us. And we combine that with unshakeable hope that goodness can grow in the soil of our very real lives.

 

Practical spirituality can be described as combining the best parts of my  role as both a spiritual director and a spiritual life coach.

 

As a spiritual director, I believe:

 

God is already at work. I simply walk alongside you on your journey.
What you need is already inside of you.
You are an individual whose life and journey are worthy of honor and respect. You get to choose what you think, believe, and do.

 

As a spiritual life coach, I believe:

 

In practical possibilities that look and feel like you.
You are capable of discerning what’s next.
You can look at the whole picture and break it down into manageable parts.
You can move forward one simple step at a time.

 

Undergirding all of this are three holy assumptions:

 

God is real.
God is love.
God is not elsewhere.

 

This makes all of our work invitational and doable, two of my favorite dynamics.

 

So, buckle up. We are going on the ride of our lives. You can grow. You can change. And you can do it all at the pace of transformation.

 

Join me on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

 

Reflection 

Take a moment to re-read the 10 bullet points above.
Which phrase strikes you right now?
What does it make you feel?

ICDT Podcast 2: Three Dynamics to Aid Change

 

In our book, What Does Your Soul Love?, in addition to the 8 powerful questions, I offer a Process for Transformation, nine simple dynamics for change. Today I want to talk about the first three dynamics that make up the Posture of Transformation.

 

The Posture of Transformation is about your inner stance toward change itself. It’s good to check in on this because it’s one thing to want to grow and change in general, or in a particular area of your life. It’s another to be truly open to all of what it takes to engage the change.