Alan Fadling's Blog, page 69

Podcast: Strong to Serve (Inhaling Grace Audiobook, Part 14)

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Alan is sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode today. We pray that these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry

I still remember reading the counsel that Dallas Willard gave John Ortberg after he’d moved to Chicago to join the staff of a large church there. (John writes about this the chapter titled “An Unhurried Life” in The Life You’ve Always Wanted. He doesn’t mention Dallas by name there, but instead talks about a “wise friend.”) What was John’s question? 

“What do I need to do to be spiritually healthy?” 

After a long pause, Dallas says, “You must ruthlessly eliminate hurry from your life.” 

John writes those words down and waits for more wise insights from Dallas. “That’s a good one. Now what else is there?” Dallas’s answer? “There is nothing else.” 

Reading those words planted a seed in my own soul at that time that, over time, germinated and bore the fruit of two books: An Unhurried Life (2013) and An Unhurried Leader (2017). 

More recently, a pastor from Portland was having a conversation with John, who was now serving as the seasoned mentor, about this unhurried life. One of the fruits of that conversation was another book on the theme of hurry, titled from Dallas’s wise counsel: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry by John Mark Comer. 

A couple of months ago, John Mark and I had a very encouraging conversation about his book and what he was learning about the fruitfully unhurried way of Jesus. We aired that conversation Monday on the Unhurried Living podcast. This is one of my favorite episodes so far. 

As you are entering the Christmas holiday season, how is your soul? Is the busyness of all the planning and preparation details getting into you, causing anxiety, or irritation, or distraction? It’s easy place to find ourselves. 

If you’d like, you can let Jesus pace your holiday. You can allow the reality of his coming—his Advent—to walk you through the season. 

This morning, praying in the Book of Common Prayer, I read this simple line that has been part of the opening of my prayers in these first two weeks of Advent: 

Our King and Savior now draws near
O come let us adore him. 

Those words might serve as encouraging, even peace-giving reminders in this hectic season. You might find yourself in a long shopping line. You could remind yourself: “My King and Savior now draws near; I will come and adore him.” 

You might be feeling overwhelmed at the magnitude of the tasks still needing attention. “My King and Savior is here. There is nothing better than to enjoy and adore him.” 

Gem and I send along our prayer that the Prince of Peace would bring rest to your heart, your soul, your mind in this season in which we especially remember his coming. May you come to rest in the reality of His presence, even today. 

Reflection: 

What, if anything, seems to be contributing most to any sense of soul hurry within you in this season? 
How might the reality of Christ with you enable you to find rest for your soul, even in the midst of busyness? 

P.S. – In addition to our most recent podcast episode with John Mark Comer, you might also enjoy episode #26, “Ten Ways to Unhurry Your Holidays.”

 

Photo by Nils Nedel on Unsplash

Podcast: The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry with John Mark Comer

Two years ago, I made a new friend. We had lunch together here in Orange County, myself, him and his wife. I heard some of his story about his ministry as a pastor in Portland, Oregon, but then I found out something really encouraging. He was working on a book on the theme of hurry. That friend is John Mark Comer and the book, which came out last October, is titled The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry.

There have been a few books written on the subject of hurry, both before and after An Unhurried Life, but I have to say that my favorite is now John Mark Comer’s The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. I read it rather quickly once it arrived. I think it was two or three sittings. It was such a pleasure to have a conversation with John Mark about the story behind his book, and to interact about some of his key insights about following Jesus’ unhurried way of life and work.

I can’t wait to share our conversation .

Good and Hard

Rick Warren once said that life is like the parallel rails of a train track. Just like the two tracks, the good and the hard parts of life often occur at the same time. 

Around the same time as the release of Rick’s Purpose Driven Life, his wife, Kay, was diagnosed with cancer. Two rails in action: the exploding popularity of a book alongside a devastating diagnosis.

You’ve probably noticed this over the course of your own life--the disorientation of incredible grace alongside an extremely difficult circumstance.

As we near the end of 2019 and look toward 2020, it can be good to take a moment to look back. On the one hand, I could give you a glowing report of all of the highlights of my year. The first rail:

We celebrated our 34th anniversary in Italy and Spain.
We traveled to Africa and met with amazing leaders there.
Our new book, What Does Your Soul Love? released.

But guess what: right alongside this glowing report I was dealing with other personal realities. The second rail:

I had a run-in with anxiety and fear that I would label as one of the most difficult of my life.
I suffered from feeling quite overwhelmed more than once.
I enacted some very difficult boundaries in a strained relationship.

Each one of these led to feelings of stress. Duh. But this is the way it works. Amazing things occur and right along side those, we can be dealing with difficult situations or inner work. 

In the midst, would I rather not have dealt with anxiety, fear, overwhelm and boundaries? Of course! But now, in hindsight, I am actually thankful for those circumstances. 

Because here, in December 2019, I am stronger, I am lighter, I know how to catch myself before I go too far down a road I don’t actually want to travel on.

So, how about you? Why not take a few minutes and write down two or three good things that happened this year. Then write down two or three things that were hard, difficult or even downright unbearable. 

You don’t have to thank God for the hard times. But you can thank God that he was with you in them. And you can thank God that you made it through them.

Good and hard occur at the same time. Holding both together is part of being a mature adult. 

This is the beauty we see anytime we engage the practice of the Examen. Look back. Notice. Acknowledge. Learn. Discern. Try again. With God.

My prayer for you is that no matter what is on your list, you will know, right here and right now, that you are loved exactly as you are. You cannot be loved more or less because of your behavior, achievements or failures. 

God’s love is unchanging. God is always toward you. Isn’t this the message of the Advent Season? 

“Love came down and rescued me
Love came down and set me free
I am yours
Lord I'm forever yours
Mountains high or valley low
I sing out and remind my soul
I am yours
I am forever yours”
(Love Came Dawn, Kari Jobe)

P.S. You might find our latest podcast “Managing Our Omnipresent Smartphone” helpful.

 

Photo by Apollo Reyes on Unsplash

Podcast: Authority That Serves (Inhaling Grace Audiobook, Part 13)

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Alan is sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray these might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

An Experiment in Human Omnipresence

A little over a dozen years ago, an experiment was launched. I don’t think anyone called it an experiment, but it turns out to have become one. The smartphone was introduced: The iPhone. 

In one way, it was an experiment in human omnipresence. At any moment now, I can check in on just about anyone or anything. The increase in information access does not appear to have been met with an increase in wisdom. 

A while back, I decided that my iPhone was a little too omnipresent, so I began with a small change in my habits. In the evening, when it came time to charge my phone, I put it in my downstairs office so that I did not have it at my bedside when I awoke. 

At first, I felt a little nervous about not having an alarm, so I bought an inexpensive, plug in clock. I had sometimes read a Kindle book on my iPhone, but began to use my Kindle device instead. 

When I rose in the morning, I wasn’t checking email or social media as my first act of the day. Instead, I would rise, make myself a cup of home-roasted coffee, then enjoy some time reading scripture and praying first. I might even engage a work project next before finally picking up my iPhone. 

What I learned is that a smartphone is a very powerful servant, but a tyrannical master. 

On Monday, our latest Unhurried Living podcast posted: Managing Our Omnipresent Smartphones. In it, I share more about my journey with managing my smartphone use. If you haven’t already listened to it, I think you’d find it helpful. 

For Reflection: 

How omnipresent is your smartphone these days? 
One way to test your emotional dependence on this device is to set aside some length of time when you turn it off. How do you feel when you do this? 
If you don’t already, what might it be like to begin your day smartphone-free?

Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

Podcast: Managing our Omnipresent Smartphones

Last Fall, Alan was grateful to make an eight-day retreat after a very full season of ministry. In the course of that retreat, he learned a lot about his level of engagement with his smartphone. He shares some of those insights with you today on the Unhurried Living Podcast.

To interact with the Unhurried Living podcast on a more personal level, download our FREE worksheet resource.

The "In Between" Matters

At Unhurried Living, we give a lot of thought and care to the idea of being spiritually formed. We encourage people to be cooperative responders to the transformational process of God.

Over the course of our lives we are actually being formed in many ways, some conscious and some unconscious. One such formation can occur when we watch TV shows or movies. We can be “formed” by the creative choices that are used to tell these stories.

For example, I just saw a movie in which a man and a woman were walking through the city. He led her down an alley and into the back door of a building. He then surprised her by turning on the lights to reveal they were in an ice skating rink. 

This was a big romantic move. But from that “lights on” moment, the story cut immediately to the two them, in skates, already on the rink, and her clumsily holding onto him for balance.

What happened to everything in between the lights going on and the two of them on the ice? I imagine her smiling at him, maybe holding hands as he led her over to where he had skates waiting for her. Maybe she was surprised that he knew her shoe size. What did they talk about? What was the back and forth conversation that began to build their relationship?

We’ll never know. Because they didn’t show it. Because of time and to keep things moving, movies and TV shows will do jump cuts from one scene to the next. And there’s nothing wrong with this common practice…in the entertainment field.

However, do you ever find yourself living your life like that? Minimizing the “little stuff in between?” Sure, we do actually live those in-between moments because there is no jump cut option for living our lives. 

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 jump cuts, 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 or numb ourselves in those moments if we think they are just filler. 

Returning to the idea of being formed:

How do you feel affected by how movies or social media tend toward jump cuts? 
Do you see this dynamic in your own life? 
Do the in-between moments of your life seem boring, anti-climactic or unimportant? 
Where are you skimming over your life?

Go ahead and try noticing your thoughts about all of this. Remind yourself that every moment matters because every moment is a moment with God. The in-between matters. The in between is life. 

Begin to notice and revel in the common and the ordinary. My guess is that gratitude will emerge naturally in this space. And that’s good news.

By the way, I shared a helpful process of noticing and letting go of your anxieties and stress in Podcast #101. The Practice of Unpacking might be especially helpful as you move through the next few weeks. No need to carry any unnecessary burdens with you into the holiday season.

Podcast: Presence for Sake of Others (Inhaling Grace Audiobook, Pt 12)

Welcome to the Unhurried Living Podcast. Today, Alan Fadling is sharing another Inhaling Grace audiobook episode. We pray it might be a few moments of remembering God’s grace that is with you, here and now, as you listen.

An Unexpected Solution for Stress

Last week, I said goodbye to an old friend. We’ve been friends for nearly twenty years. It was hard to see him go. 

On my fortieth birthday, my family pitched in and bought me what was then the largest recliner La-Z-Boy makes. It was called the “Grand Canyon.” It’s been a very good friend. 

I’d often come home from a long, stressful day, lean back, kick out the footrest and, as tall as I am, I wouldn’t hang off the end. Over the years, I’ve taken some great naps, and did some good reading and good writing there. It has been a very restful place for me. 

But the time had come to move on since Gem and I had made some changes in our furnishings and there just wasn’t a spot for my old friend anymore. So, we made a donation of it and there is now a monk at Prince of Peace Abbey who is enjoying it instead. 

Now, If you’ve come to a training I’ve led in the last year or two, there’s a good chance you’ve heard me talk about a surprising way that Jesus invites us to rest in the midst of our stress. You’ll find it in a very familiar passage: 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28).” 

Nothing surprising yet. Jesus sees what is heavy and wearying in our lives. Jesus cares for us and invites us to come to Him. In and with Him, we will find rest. (A few phrases later, Jesus makes clear that he’s talking about rest for our souls). 

The surprise comes when He offers his strategy for helping us find rest for our souls. 

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (29).” 

Take my yoke. There’s the surprise. Jesus offers us a yoke so that we’ll find rest. He doesn’t offer a recliner. These words might have sounded a bit surprising to the ears of his first hearers. A yoke was an implement of work. Hard work. So how is it that a yoke could be restful? I can think of at least three ways: 

First, a yoke would have been the means by which two animals could pull a plow or a wagon. Jesus invites me into the yoke with Him. My life and my work feel heavy and tiring when I feel alone in it. Jesus is inviting me to companionship with him in the work. I am not alone in anything I’m doing. 

Second, there was often an experienced animal and a young animal in a yoke together. The immature would learn from the mature. And the larger, experienced animal would be carrying more of the weight. Jesus has the heavy end of the yoke we share. For us, his yoke is easy and his burden is light. 

Finally, Jesus says that the yoke is a place to learn from him. It’s a place of training. It’s a place of apprenticeship. Jesus knows how to live and work restfully. Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Jesus can teach us how to live our lives and do our work as restfully as He does. 

While I’ll miss my old friend, I have a better place to rest than a comfy old chair. I have a Companion who is teaching me how to rest at the center of who I am. In Him, I’m finding rest for my soul. 

For Reflection

In what ways have you been feeling restless within? 
In what ways might that restlessness be the fruit of pulling ahead, lagging behind or pulling away from the yoke with Jesus? 
How would you like to pray and embrace Jesus’ invitation to walk closely with him in His yoke?

Photo by Dan Gold on Unsplash