The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus

by Rich Villodas

In some conservative traditions, transformation is about getting the right theology in one’s head while overlooking the inner work God wants to do.

In some Charismatic and Pentecostal traditions, transformation is about getting the right experience but without the deeper work of loving well and exploring our inner worlds.

Educator and activist Parker Palmer makes a compelling case that burnout typically does not come about because we’ve given so much of ourselves that we have nothing left. He tells us, “It merely reveals the nothingness from which I was trying to give in the first place.”

“Every one of us has a monk or nun ‘embryo’ inside of us.”6 Deep in our souls, we crave space with God that is defined by silence, stillness, and solitude.

Think of boredom during silent prayer as an act of purification. In this uneventful moment, God purifies us of the false god of good feelings. While good feelings are gifts, they can easily become ends in themselves.

As I heard it said by Thomas Keating, if your mind gets distracted ten thousand times in twenty minutes of prayer, it’s “ten thousand opportunities to return to God.”

They often think of grace in the same terms, as if God’s favor is something one should strive to be deserving of; that is, “You’ve been given it, now earn it.” God’s point is, earning is altogether irrelevant to love. Likewise, you don’t earn (let alone deserve) the favor in Sabbath.

Sabbath is a gift that precedes work and enables us to work.