Only in love...

"Only in love can I find You, my God. In love the gates of my soul spring open, allowing me to breathe a new air of freedom and forget my own petty self. In love my whole being streams forth out of the rigid confines of narrowness and anxious self-assertion, which makes me a prisoner of my own poverty and emptiness. In love all the powers of my soul flow out toward You, wanting never more to return, but to lose themselves completely in You, since by Your love You are the inmost center of my heart, closer to me than I am to myself."

- Karl Rahner, Encounters with Silence

How God opened my heart through a cat...

I have been sitting with my dear fur baby, Eddie, (black kitty on the left kissing Jack the white kitty on the right) for the past few days. His health has crashed and the doc diagnosed chronic renal failure...in uncertain terms he was given less than a week to live. Savoring each look, each nuzzle, each sweet lingering on my lap I have come to recount how Eddie helped open my heart...

You see, for five years, I walked right by him. Yup - he lived in my parking lot and would come running to greet me every time I came home. He was adorable, laying on his back inviting me to rub his belly. And for five years I said, "No way, I'm not opening my heart to you." For five years I refused to love him - to even pet him - to even acknowledge him. I walked on by with a stiff arm and a cold heart. But Eddie kept coming. He kept pursuing. He kept giving me a chance to love him (and to be loved by him).

Then one cold night in fall of 2002, I let him in for fear that this little creature would die on such a frigid night. And that was it - he captured my heart. For eight years this little guy has sat on my lap every morning during my quiet times of centering my soul with God. I delighted in him just wanting to be with me. Often, when I was distracted and feeling like I was not doing enough for God, God would remind me of my delight in Eddie. The cat was doing nothing but sitting with me, yet I was so happy. And I'd hear the echo of that same sentiment deep withing my soul - that's all God wanted too - "I am delighted to be with you Paula, just like you are with Eddie. Nothing is required...just be with me."

This being with - it is enough.

Now it's time to say goodbye to one of God's little creatures who helped open my heart to love - both in giving and in receiving. Honestly - Eddie is such a picture of God's persistent and joyous pursuit - He keeps coming even when I stiff arm Him and try to close my heart to His advances of
love. David says in Ps. 23:6 - "Surely God's goodness and mercy chase after me all the days of my life." Eddie chased after me...and I finally let my heart be caught.

Ironically, the heartache I now feel is what I was trying to avoid by keeping my heart shut tight for those five years. Now I wish I had those five years back! I know I've loved well because it hurts so dang much.

Frederick Buechner writes about what happens when we steel our hearts against the pain of the world...

“To do for yourself

the best that you have it in you to do –

to grit your teeth and clench your fists

in order to survive the world

at its harshest and worst –

is, by that very act, to be unable

to let something be done for you and in you

that is more wonderful still.

The trouble with steeling yourself against the harshness of reality

is that the same steel that secures your life against being destroyed [further wounded] secures your life also against being opened up and transformed.”

Frederick Buechner in The Sacred Journey

Dear Eddie cat has been an instrument who helped open up my life and heart so that I could be transformed. Something wonderful has happened for me and in me that is more wonderful than I can put words to.

So, I say "pause" (or is that paws) to Eddie - there will be a delay until I reunite with him again...this sweet little instrument of God's grace and love. I love you dear boy.

Creativity and Safety are incompatible...

 This is a repost of a blog by Cole Nesmith -

Last night, I dropped my friend, McKenzie, off at her car after house church. When she got out of the car, I said, “Be safe.” Almost immediately, I looked at Josh – sitting in the passenger seat – and said, “I’m never going to say that again.”

We live in a culture consumed by safety. There are organizations completely dedicated to making sure we’re safe while working and traveling and eating and doing just about any other common practice. And, being good westerners, we’ve allowed our cultural obsession for safety to define our lives as Christians. We’ve spent the last several hundred years sterilizing our relationship with Christ into a religion that is neat, defined, predictable… might I say, systematic?  We’ve worked hard to eliminate as much of the unknown as possible, and we wonder why we feel distant from a God who exists in the mysterious.  Today, we try to compensate with our heads by creating large educational institutions where we can further define and attempt to know God intellectually.
Hence, today, my friend Dustin called me and asked :

What happened historically that caused Christians to stop being influencers and creators of culture?  Where did our creativity go?

The answer : It was driven out by our fear of the unknown and our lust for answers.
Creativity and safety are incompatible.
Creativity is willing to step into the unknown and bring something new into existence.
Creativity is about an unbridled heart that is so free in who it was created to be that it is unstoppable.

Creativity is central to EVERYTHING God does.  And I’m not just talking about the creative work of the land and seas and animals and you and me.  I’m talking about things like redemption, peace, beauty and hope.  These things can only exist when we tap into the creative heart of God.
When I pass a homeless drug addict on the street, I can respond with my earthly, uncreative heart that sees what is before me.  Or, I can choose to look on with the creative heart of God that sees something that is yet to exist.  God looks onto what seems like a dark canvas of nothingness and imagines a beautiful life – a tree bearing all kinds of good fruit that nourishes those who come to eat of it.
Recently, I was talking with a guy  who has lived and worked in Haiti for the last 27 years.  He said,

“the most difficult thing to overcome in Haitian culture is the pervasive mindset of “present hedonism.”

And it seems that statement is true for lots of Americans (especially American Christians) as well.  We’re only concerned with the present, the now, today.  We’ve lost the ability to dream.  In short, his assessment is that one of the largest hurdles in Haiti is a lack of creativity.

That night, I posted this online :

Thinking about two future Haitis : One rebuilt on the foundation of creativity and the other built on the foundation of utility.

And the sole response :

I like the one where their foundation is Jesus

And that’s where we stand today – in a world where Christians have erected a wall of fear, prejudice and sterility between creativity and Jesus. But when we truly look at the heart of Jesus and the river of the Holy Spirit, all we see is the unexpected.
I remember going to the Grand Canyon several years ago.  I was on the road with some friends, and we drove all through the night.  The next morning, when I woke up, we were parked in a campsite several hundred yards from the hole.  I was so excited to start exploring that I skipped breakfast and jogged up the path to the canyon.  It was beautiful.  We hiked all day along the ridge occasionally walking out on the narrow pieces of rock that jutted from the main path – only 3 feet wide with hundreds of feet of cliff on each side.  And no rails!

God wants to take humanity deep in the mystery of Himself, but for generations, Christians have stood on the bank of the river of His Spirit.  And over time, the river has carved out a canyon before us.  That canyon gets deeper and deeper.  The rushing waters that we’re meant to swim in get farther and farther away.  Some thought about diving in for a while, but eventually the river just looked like it was too far down to jump in.  So we started building a fence.  And today, that fence keeps us safely perched on top of the canyon.  We have taken to study the rocks and the sand and the bushes.  We become intimately acquainted with the signs of what once was.  And as we turn our backs to the river, we settle into the comforts of the land.

But I’m so thirsty.  And I know that there are people in the world that are too – people that are ready to swim in the river of God, not exactly sure what will happen, but ready nonetheless.

So, what do you say we tear down the fence, stand on the edge of the cliff and jump into the unknown, beautiful, creative heart of God?"

So what do you think?

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Pragmatic or Spiritual

reprinting this article by Jamin Goggin

Pragmatic or Spiritual

"'I think I could train a non-Christian to do what I do well.'  These were the words spoken by a successful pastor.  Of course, "successful" is a loaded word, which I am defining via the largely accepted standards of the evangelical church today-growing church attendance, establishment of satellite campuses, creative programming, etc.  Having seriously reflected on the source, nature and telos of his ministry he had concluded that in many ways his ministry was natural, earthly...you fill in the blank.  In short, his ministry was pragmatically oriented and fundamentally a human endeavor.  He had become suspicious that the markers of success might be skewed since such success was achieved primarily through his natural ability, charisma, neurotic drives...

What I am finding more and more, and I must say at an alarming rate, is that this is true of many in ministry.  What is perhaps of greater concern is that few (very few) are coming to the realization that this pastor has come to.  Few, having tasted the meat sacrificed to idols have chosen to step away from the sweet taste of power, prestige and success long enough to realize maybe they are dining at the wrong table.

What we see is ministry fundamentally driven by pragmatic questions that are met with pragmatic answers.  What do we need to do to get people in church more often?  What do we need to do to increase giving?  What do we need to do to increase membership?  What do we need to do to get people excited about church?  And so, the answers follow.  It is those who can think creatively, see the "big picture", understand people's felt needs or come up with a clever campaign that are seen as brilliant and successful.  Mind you, within each of these pragmatic questions there may lie legitimate concerns, but might I suggest that the questions are neither primary nor formed correctly.  The concerns of the pastor are no longer spiritual.  The questions that should be primary are not even secondary.  How is the Holy Spirit moving in the lives of these people?  Where does God have our church developmentally?  What temptations do we as leadership have in our approach to ministry?  The problem is that these are questions to be explored in prayer, and if we are honest much less time (perhaps no time) is spent in prayer than in planning meetings, vision team brainstorms, the latest conferences, etc.

Sure, we talk about spiritual things, but not spiritually.  We do not minister in the Spirit, but in human creativity, in the latest church growth ideas, etc.  Here we would do well to hear voices like Eugene Peterson who call the pastor back to a life of prayer (see Working the Angles).  Instead, we are enamored with the guys we believe have arrived (meaning those who have large churches), and their ideas for strategic growth, philosophies of ministry, etc.  Please hear me when I say, this is not all bad.  The pragmatic is an inescapable part of ministry, for we have to do something, and it would certainly be a good idea to do it well.  However, I believe if our ministry was more governed by spiritual questions and answers we would find that we don't have to do as much as we think we do, we are not responsible for the things we think we are (namely, the work of the Holy Spirit) and if we began with such spiritual questions and answers the pragmatic step to follow might just be to glorify God, not man. " Jamin Goggin
----



Seems the questions we ask reveal our motivation... what questions are you asking re: your ministries - whether it be to your family, church, small group etc? What important spiritual questions do you ask yourself re: your ministry?

www.mysoulrefresh.com

An interesting question...

I briefly attended a leadership conference this past week. (I admit, I ducked out before it was finished because I was just too tired to sit there and listen...)

One of the questions that was posed to participants was this:

"How have your beliefs influenced your policies and productivity?"

While understanding that beliefs ought to trickle down to influence policies and productivity, I have found the latter two suspiciously minimized over the last year and a half of responding to God's invitation to walk in His unforced rhythms of grace on a journey of transformation. 

As others shared about ramping up policies and productivity to be better stewards of God's resources and giftings, by the world's standards, perhaps I look like a naive freeloader:

• Policies: intentionally cooperate with God by creating unhurried space to hear His voice, linger in His presence, open my heart to trust His love and leading. Oh, and some folks who hang out with me might also add: "Thou shalt not 'should' on thyself"

• Productivity: respond to what He invites me to (with all my heart, soul, mind and strength).

Perhaps this is too simple. Perhaps I am naive. I know I have much more to learn, but find my soul a little ruffled to find leaders discussing "productivity" and "Christianity" in the same breath. Fruit comes from abiding...

I'm wondering how you would answer this question?

Peace and Good

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

A book helping to slow down frenzied families...

Do you constantly tell your family to "hurry up!" or feel like you're running around like a chicken with her head cut off? Is your family living frenzied? 

I ran across this title recently and thought I'd share it. Though I haven't read it, it comes with some high reviews on Amazon. I'm definitely intrigued!

Looks like she has another title: The Contemplative Mom - so all you moms out there longing to find unhurried spaces for your soul - check these out and let me know what you think!



Unhurry Up™ 

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Music to help you Unhurry Up™

Want some soothing music to help you Unhurry Up™?
Try out Ancient Faith radio 
They have some mobile apps too (I have it on my iPhone) -

Here's a little exercise for listening:

1) What one or two words describe how you feel as you come to play this music? (Tired? Busy? Expectant? ???)
2) Put on the music, sit or lie down and close your eyes. Breathe deeply two or three times.
3) Linger with the music, paying attention to what it evokes in you? Can you envision a scene? or does it elicit a longing within you? How do you feel about the scene and/or longing?
4) Maybe pray a simple prayer: "Lord I consent to Your Love." or "Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."
5) Keep breathing deeply. But also let your body respond to the music however it wants...to fall asleep, to tap a toe, to get up and dance.
6) When you feel ready, change your posture, say a quick prayer of thanks to God for this space, and pay attention to how you now feel. What one or two words describe how you feel after stilling and receiving this unhurried space with God?

Would love to hear any feedback of how this goes for you. Blessings!

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

"Success" in ministry

This is reprinted from the metamorpha blog.
It is really great food for thought re: our criteria for "success" in church planting/ church leadership. What do you think?

What You Need

by Jamin Goggin

I recently came across an interview with a pastor at an influential church in the United States talking about church planting.  The two prongs of the discussion basically covered successes and failures in church planting.  A large portion of the interview was focused on challenges in church planting and conversely what is needed to "succeed" in planting a church.  The pastor gave a list of three things that are clearly needed for success-(1) charismatic leader, (2) leader who can communicate well, and (3) leader who is adept at strategic thinking.

What I first found interesting was the complete collapse of needs into the Senior Pastor.  A gifted person is what is needed most.  Of course, how one defines "success" plays a large role in these perceived needs.  If we are defining success as gathering the most people as quickly as possible to the church then of course a more pragmatic turn is liable to be taken.  Don't get me wrong I understand that if the pastor cannot communicate, is terribly awkward with people or is not a strategic thinker then the church will face challenges.  My problem is not that the pragmatic is considered, but rather that is the sole concern. 

I do not seek to explore my concerns from an ecclesiological perspective.  I have many.  Rather, I want to approach this issue with a spiritual formation lense.  In that vain, what is striking to me is that while the needs of the "successful" church plant are solely wrapped up in a person, the Senior Pastor, the reasons are not spiritually oriented what so over, but rather are purely founded in natural ability.  Meaning what is needed in the leader most is as skill-set not holiness.  It is shocking to me that of the top three things listed the spiritual health and maturity of the pastor is not even mentioned.  So, what are your thoughts?  This impacts other areas.  For example, what do churches look for when they hire a new pastor?  How do we gauge the value and leadership ability of our pastors?

What three things are needed for "success" in ministry?

1. Love - (1 Cor 13: 1-8, 13; Rev 2: 1-4; Matt 22: 36-40)
2. Humility (John 13: 12-17) - remember Jesus said, "I will build my church" (Matt 16:18)
3. Doing what the Father is doing (John 5:19) (resulting in fruits which seems to be revealed through abiding - John 15: 4,16-17)

What do you think? How might we develop Love, Humility/Servanthood and Abiding in ourselves? Who do you know that walks in love, humility and an abiding lifestyle? Follow her! Follow him!

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Take a listen: Wendell Berry, "How to be a Poet"

I love the first words of Berry's poem : "Make a place to sit down...sit down...."

So make a place to sit down, sit down and take a listen to Wendell Berry's poem on "How to be a poet" 

• Listen to it several times...what words or phrases stand out to you?
• Ask God, "What in this poem do you want me to pay attention to?"
• How might you respond in action to God's (via Berry's) invitation?

 Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Are you skimming your life?

Jean Wise, in her blog, writes about how skimming info on the internet is affecting her skimming life at a more shallow level:

Multitasking. Busyness. Noise.  All modern hassles that I often simply accept, don’t fight, and let rule my life. Part of my survival mechanism, I guess.

But lately I have noticing my reading, listening and even prayer is lacking depth – I am skimming in all areas of my life.

Skimming makes me look like I have it all together and am on top of things, yet something is missing. I am not taking the time to develop deep roots – roots that will nourish me through dry periods and hold me steady during the storms of life.

Pete Scazzero wrote, “Skimming is the way many of us cope with multiple demands, constant pressure, and overloaded schedules. We cover a lot of ground superficially without being fully engaged.”

 Are you fully engaged? Do you actually live life, or just skim it?
How might the internet be affecting your depth of life/living/relationships?


Click Here  to read (not skim, but read and reflect deeply, of course) the blog post in full - a great reflection on living a shallow life, vs deeply connected.

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Part of clergy burnout is lack of physical health

David Gibson, a religion reporter, shares that religious leaders, whether rabbis, imams, or priests, are suffering dire health consequences. Snippets from the article are below:

"God may have rested on the seventh day, but for a growing number of his ministers, there is more work -- and stress -- than ever, and less chance to unwind. That has led to all sorts of health problems among clergy, from a lack of exercise and a rise in obesity to problems of depression and substance abuse and all the many ills of modern life that pastors spend so much time helping their congregants tackle.

"Indeed, even as the folks in the pews head off to vacations this summer, priests, rabbis, pastors and ministers of all faiths often find themselves looking after those left behind and still in need of spiritual support, or using any down time to catch up on the inevitable backlog of administrative work that always takes second place to the care of souls....

"A national survey in 2001 of more than 2,500 Christian religious leaders conducted by Duke Divinity School showed that 76 percent of Christian clergy were either overweight or obese, 15 percentage points higher than for the general U.S. population. And other research has shown that clergy across all faiths are succumbing to higher rates of obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and other ailments than their congregants.

"But experts also say the solutions have to start at the congregational level.

Congregants can encourage pastors to take time off, and not view everything in the church as the pastor's responsibility. They can also be sure to provide healthy food at church events. But clergy must also learn find time to exercise or relax, even if it means saying no to some requests. Otherwise, they won't be healthy enough to serve their flock later on."

Are you a pastor?

• what in the article caught your attention? 
• Take 5 minutes and ask the Lord, "How does this connect to my story?"

Are you a congregant? 

• How might you help your pastor have the space to cultivate their own soul care so as to help you cultivate yours?

Click here to read the whole article.

The dis-ease of Pastoral Soul Care

A great article, by Annie Dilenschneider, that goes beyond surface "fixes" of the problems of helping pastors maintain health (physical, emotional, mental, spiritual) in ministry. Here's a snippet of the article:

"Until the 1920s, the pastor was a cura animarum, the "cure of souls," or "curate" -- a person who cared for souls by helping people locate themselves in God's greater story. The first step in this work was the pastor's own attention to her or his soul-care through an intentional focus on her or his personal relationship with the Holy...  My data, largely about United Methodist pastors, confirms your learnings that our pastors in large part are not praying people. They do not practice the historic spiritual disciplines and therefore it is impossible for them to help those of us who look to them for guidance in the church to be praying people seeking God and love of neighbor.

"Daily time and space for this inner work are essential for the health of clergy and congregations. As Norman Shawchuck and Roger Heuser wrote in Leading the Congregation: Caring for Yourself While Serving Others, a congregation

will not journey beyond the pastor; the congregation will not venture where the pastor is not leading. This is a hard saying. It would be more comfortable to work like the traffic cop -- to give a map or a few verbal instructions -- but spiritual formation is a case where only those who have eyes to see can lead. (p. 126)

Click here to read the article in whole.
In short, the author is describing how we have switched the First and Second great commands. The Second command, loving others, is deemed "ministry" and is more measureable than the first - after all, how do you measure love in terms of effectiveness, productive, useful, growth...

Do you need to developing this inner work of intimacy with God and self? Are you interested in a companion for your journey. reFresh offers spiritual direction and retreats to help foster unhurried, intimate space for you to linger in God's love and leading as the source of your life and ministry. Contact me for more info

Have a blessed day lingering in God's love

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Maturing the Modern Spiritual Formation Movement - without any Holy Baloney

Richard Foster, who has led and facilitated spiritual formation over the past several decades weighs in on the maturing the modern SF movement.

I love this - he sums up spiritual formation quite nicely and reminds us that this is a long, beautiful journey of receiving renovation in our hearts as the impetus to any good service in God's kingdom. Loving God translates into loving self and others.

The original article appears here, but you can read it below as well.

Maturing the Modern Spiritual Formation Movement
By Richard Foster
 
The task of maturing the modern spiritual formation movement is complicated and will require our finest thinking and most creative energies. There are two reasons, at least, for the complication. To begin with, the continuing popularity of spiritual formation today has meant that all kinds of writing and speaking have now gone forth on the subject. Frankly -- and I hate to say it in such a blunt matter -- much that has gone out under the name of spiritual formation has come from people who simply have not thought substantively on the subject, and (dare I mention it) we have to wonder if they themselves have been spiritually formed to any substantial degree. Hence, a great deal of "Holy Baloney" is out there now, and the average person will quickly despair at distinguishing the good from the bad.

Then, secondly, people in general and Americans in particular are a fickle lot, and they tire quickly. Many are already moving on to the next fad. And let's be honest: how many of us can truly wrap our minds around the notion of a forty-year journey into the subterranean chambers of the soul? That was, as you will recall, Moses' experience of character formation in the Egyptian desert. Forty years! Are we not tempted to opt instead for a short cut or two? Impatience is a primary spiritual problem in our day.

These things, however, need not discourage us. The human need -- and longing -- for substantive formation of heart and soul and mind and body into Christlikeness is always before us. It is not going to go away. No doubt our work will now be more difficult with those who feel they have tried spiritual formation, and it failed them, when all they really tried was some little "five steps to blessedness." Remember, we are not presenting people with any "program," but with a life. We simply and powerfully introduce them into an ongoing, interactive relationship with Jesus, their ever-living Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend. Apprenticed to Jesus, they will be able to go forward from faith to faith and from strength to strength.

Here now are a few things to bear in mind as we continue our efforts at maturing the modern spiritual formation movement.

1) We take the long view . . . always. We think in terms of lifetimes and centuries. The soul lives forever. It is precious beyond imagining. Investing deeply in even a few people will count for all eternity. Sure, many in today's religious climate will go on to other "more interesting" topics. We bless these folk and pray for their well-being and growth in grace. But there are plenty (vast numbers, in fact) who are committed to the long haul. They really want to be like Jesus with all their heart and soul and mind and strength. These are the ones we invest in. And, believe me, investing in these precious lives will take all the energy and all the time and all the prayer and all the weeping and laughing and singing and hoping we can possibly muster.

2) We refuse to think of spiritual formation in terms of various practices . . . ever. In another era, those practices were things such as a "quiet time" and Bible study of one sort or another. Today it is Lectio Divina and "journaling." May I say as clearly as possible: Christian spiritual formation has nothing essentially to do with such practices. Many practices can be genuinely helpful in their place, but they are not "it." What is "it" is LIFE -- life with Jesus, interactive relationship with the great God of the universe, inner transformation into Christlikeness. Now, this reality can take shape with Lectio and with "journaling," and it can happen without them. It can, and it does! The tendency today, unfortunately widespread, is to think of spiritual formation exclusively in terms of practices of one kind or another. Please, dear friend, do not fall into this trap. It will only produce legalism and bondage, and it utterly defeats spiritual formation. Many of the familiar practices are useful, to be sure, and some more than others. But none is essential. We all are to walk with the living Christ and then "in humility regard others as better than yourselves" (Phil. 2:3).

3) We engage in spiritual formation for the sake of the Church universal . . . always. Sectarian reform movements that cement an eternal split only become ends in themselves. We work instead for the transformation of the whole Church. We love the Church, the people of God, in all her multi-faceted expressions. Traditional. Contemporary. Liturgical. Charismatic. Emergent. Catholic and Orthodox and Protestant. Big church and little church, house church and crystal cathedral. We attempt no end run around the Church. God is with his people in all their waywardness and silliness, and so are we.
4) We do not center on curriculum-based solutions . . . ever. Curricula of all sorts are important but they come way down the line in formation work. Curriculum must always be subservient to ideas and ideas must always be subservient to relationship. In The Divine Conspiracy, Dallas Willard (rightly in my estimation) has a chapter entitled, "A Curriculum for Christlikeness." However, this is the ninth chapter, and it comes only after a careful delineation of the unique qualities of the interactive relationship between Jesus and his apprentices and a careful explication of the central ideas related to this life in the kingdom of God. Far too many people rush to the curriculum program of chapter nine without establishing in their lives the foundations set forth so carefully in all that comes before. We must not leave out the curriculum work, but it never comes first and it must never be central. Nor can it ever be a "cookie-cutter" curriculum. Unique individuals people require unique, individualized curricula. Frankly, "cookie-cutter" curricula are very much like cookies -- all sweetness with precious little nutrition.

5) We draw wisdom and insight from the ancient sources . . . always. We reject the heresy of the contemporary. The people of God throughout history instruct us in the way eternal. Bible sources and post-Bible sources. We learn from Moses. We learn from Luther. We learn from Joseph of Arimathea. We learn from Catherine of Genoa. These are our teachers, our models, our inspiration.

6) We do not aim at outward action . . . ever. It is the renovation of the heart we are after. This inward work is much harder than mere outward conformity . . . and also easier. It is harder because we cannot see it, test it, control it. We cannot program the heart of another human being. We cannot program our own heart. But this is what makes it easier. God is the One who sees the heart. God is the One who tenderly programs the heart -- always allowing time and space for our will to turn and respond to divine Love. We are working in conjunction with a greater Plan, a greater Planner. We are part of God's great Renovation project for human beings. And so we can work at rest. We can labor under God's abiding grace.

7) We are keenly aware that true inward transformation will incline our hearts toward suffering humanity . . . always. Deep suffering is found everywhere, among the down and out and among the up and in. As our hearts are increasingly renovated, they will become increasingly tender toward the bruised and the broken, the helpless and the hopeless. We will then find ways to move outside our insulated bubbles of security. Trevor Hudson, a South African pastor and writer, during the darkest period in his country's history of apartheid, developed an eight-day experiential program designed to help young South Africans reflect upon the meaning of their faith and discipleship within the harsh and oppressive sociopolitical realities of their nation. Trevor calls this experience "The Pilgrimage of Pain and Hope." Oh, may we find ways to come alongside suffering human beings and together walk the pilgrimage of pain and hope!


Friends, right now spiritual formation is popular and much sought after. This time will pass, and when it does, we will continue on. Frankly, whether we are in the limelight or in obscurity is of no consequence whatever. Such matters are wood, hay, and stubble. We seek everlasting results: gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12). So, dear friends, live faithfully to the end. Be constant in season and out. Proclaim the good news of the kingdom. Walk cheerfully over the earth.

Richard Foster is the founder of Renovaré. He has authored or co-authored seven books, including Celebration of Discipline and Life With God: Reading the Bible for Spiritual Transformation (with Kathryn A. Helmers). He is also the lead editor of The Life with God Bible.
The above was originally developed for internal purposes, for friends and supporters of the Renovaré movement, and was put forward as a suitable contribution for this series. Copyright 2006 Renovaré, 8 Inverness Drive East, Suite 102, Englewood, CO, 80112, USA, http://www.renovare.us. 



www.mysoulrefresh.com

Embracing Poverty

"How can we embrace poverty as a way to God when everyone around us wants to become rich? Poverty has many forms. We have to ask ourselves: "What is my poverty?" Is it lack of money, lack of emotional stability, lack of a loving partner, lack of security, lack of safety, lack of self-confidence? Each human being has a place of poverty. That's the place where God wants to dwell! "How blessed are the poor," Jesus says (Matthew 5:3). This means that our blessing is hidden in our poverty.

We are so inclined to cover up our poverty and ignore it that we often miss the opportunity to discover God, who dwells in it. Let's dare to see our poverty as the land where our treasure is hidden."
~Henri Nouwen


What is your poverty?

• Time?
• Aloneness?
• Money?
• Emotional stability?
• vocation?

How do you strive to "overcome" it - is that with God or apart from Him?

How does staring for treasure in the midst of your poverty feel?
What would you want to say to God re: your poverty?
As you sit with this thought, what might God be inviting you toward?


www.mysoulrefresh.com

True Self/False Self

Okay - I AM on a digital sabbatical, but did prepare some advance postings for your perusal and reflections.

"Discovering our true selves requires that we discover God’s love. And that requires facing how many things our false self clings to as more valuable than God. If we learn to be quiet in the Spirit’s presence, we realize that’s what he’s doing. He’s robbing us of peace from every source other than God." ~Larry Crabb in Conversations Issue 1.2, fall 2003, 5

How has experiencing God's love helped you to discover your true self?

How are you doing learning to be quiet in the Spirit's presence? Do you fill "quiet time" with words (written and spoken), or are you leaning in for His whispers?

If you are daring, ask God to reveal to you one false thing you cling to this week...the key here is to ask him, not have your own conscience make the decision of what is false. To do this - take a few deep breaths - then imagine sitting with Jesus, the One in whom there is no condemnation (Rom 8:1) and who is for you and not against you (Rom 8:31-35)  in one of your most peaceful places - a spacious field of wildflowers, a mountain top vista, by a babbling brook, sitting across from you while you drink your morning coffee, in a sanctuary surrounded by stained glass windows, staring into a star-filled sky  - and in that place invite Him to lead you toward His higher, deeper, wider, broader love. (Eph 3:18-21). Every time you feel your mind wandering off to another topic, gently repeat a phrase such as "Lord, lead me into your deeper love"

• As you imagine Him near you/with you/by you - how do you feel?
• Look into His face - what do his eyes express to you?
• Does He have any words for you? Any invitations?
• How do His words, expressions or invitations make you feel?
• How do you want to respond to His invitations?

Sanctification - this un-ning of false self and becoming transformed into the image of Christ - is the process where the real God reveals His real self (not who I fear, imagine or want Him to be) to my real self (not who I fear, imagine or want myself to be.) The more He reveals His real self and my real self, the less ego I have - i.e. less need I feel to be defensive, competitive, right, first, noticed... in fact, quite often those latter things are what flag to me that I am not living in love/my true self found in His love.

May you find His peace and sweet invitations toward His transforming love today

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Unhurried Journey Book Suggestions

Soul Custody: Choosing to care for the one and only you by Stephen W. Smith.

This is a great book by Stephen Smith (I also highly recommend his Lazarus Life book as well). Steve and his wife Gwen run The Potter's Inn spiritual formation retreat center in Colorado! I'd love to go there some day - it sounds like our two ministries are simpatico! Soul Custody really is a great guide of how to create more unhurried soul space in your life/world - especially in light of the "violence" with which our souls are often confronted. Smith covers topics like stillness, simplicity, detoxing from stress, caring for your body, community, and removing false identity, among other things. Here's a sample snippet:

"We forfeit our souls every single time we choose to drain ourselves and not replenish ourselves; run on empty rather than stopping and intentionally doing the things that will bring us life; burnout rather than live meaningful, significant, and impactful live that are enjoyable and life-giving to others. We forfeit the life God intended for us when we lower our souls to functioning as machines rather than living as soulish marvels who require more than a quart of oil or a recharging of our batteries" (p. 29).

The Contemplative Pastor: Returning to the Art of Spiritual Direction by Eugene Peterson

In short, I try to read everything Eugene has written. This is probably my favorite book of his - he challenges pastors and ministers (all of us really) to return to the true role of pastor - being "unbusy," "subversive," and "apocalyptic."  Here are a few choice quotes:

"...the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront" (17)

"And so pastors, instead of practicing prayer, which brings people into the presence of God, enter into the practice of Messiah: we will do the work of God for God, fix people up, tell them what to do, conspire in finding the shortcuts by which the long journey to the cross can be bypassed, since we all have such crowded schedules right now" (43). 

Yea, I know. He doesn't really pussy-foot around - I think that's why I like him! He is the King of "un-ning" (helping me unlearn, shake-off and re-center my soul and ministry on what is essential!)


The Life You've Always Wanted: Spiritual Disciplines for Ordinary People by John Ortberg

Simple, profound, easy to read John Ortberg. The title originally made me think this was a health/wealth sort of book, but it is far from that. John does a great job of engaging and inviting the reader toward some spiritual disciplines like celebration, slowing, servanthood, confession, secrecy, and developing your own "rule" of life. The chapter on Unhurriedness (being ruthless to be unhurried) is worth the price of the book. And really, as you know by now, his quote re: love and hurry being fundamentally incompatible has sparked an unhurried revolution!

"For many of us the greatest danger is not that we will renounce our faith. It is that we will become so distracted and rushed and preoccupied that we will settle for a mediocre version of it. We will just skim our lives instead of actually living them" (82).

Receiving the Day: Christian Practices for opening the gift of time by Dorothy Bass
 I read this book quite some time ago, but remember it made a big impact on me beginning to explore my relationship with time and why I was suffering from lack of peace. Receiving is a huge part of the gist of following after Christ (i.e. duh, that is the gist of grace, which is the gist of Christianity.) Bass gives a great historical overview of time, but an invitation toward learning to receive the day, versus get stuck in frenetic "making" of a day. Here's a review by Roberta Bondi - another great historian and follower of Jesus: 

"A profoundly useful book. . . . It reminds us forcibly that we are embodied creatures gifted by God with time too precious to fritter or work away. In its recommendations for healing our relationship to time it is often unsettlingly revolutionary, frequently subversive of our secular culture, and always full of Dorothy Bass's honest and generous reflections on her own life. It is a pleasure to recommend it." (Roberta Bondi, author, A Place to Pray: Reflections on the Lord's Prayer and Memories of God)

When the Soul Listens: Finding rest and direction in Contemplative Prayer by Jan Johnson
Do you want to learn how to lean in and listen? Are you hungry for a more intimate relationship with God - longing for Him to restore your heart and soul? As the back cover says, "If prayer has stopped working for you" then read this book!

"I'd been taught many methods of prayer, but most of them involved promoting my agenda. For many years as a Christian, I never sought God just for Himself...[but we resist a silent, agenda-less coming to God] because we're distracted by life's thousand demands and by our habit of filling in empty time slots with entertainment. Our mind flashes from one thing to another, always occupied. A weekly visit to church can't begin to penetrate this busyness. Contemplation reconnects us with God in the midst of this scatteredness" (18-19).

 
Invitation to Silence and Solitude: Experiencing God's Transforming Presence by Ruth Haley Barton
 Read every book of RHB's - they are really good! But start with Silence and Solitude - a gentle, practical invitation to a deeper and more honest life and love relationship with God and self.

"Solitude and silence are the most radical of the spiritual disciplines because they most directly attack the sources of human misery and wrongdoing. To be in solitude is to choose to do nothing. For extensive periods of time. All accomplishment is given up...When we go into solitude and silence we stop making demands on God. It is enough that God is God and we are his" ~Dallas Willard in the introduction, 10-11.

"We are a very busy, word and heady faith tradition. Yet we are desperate to find ways to open ourselves to our God who is, in the end, beyond all our human constructs and human agendas. With all our emphasis on theology and Word, cognition and service - and as important as these are - we are starved for mystery, to know this God as One who is totally Other and to experience reverence in his presence. We are starved for intimacy, to see and feel and know God in the very cells of our being. We are starved for rest, to know God beyond what we can do for him. We are starved for quiet, to hear the sound of sheer silence that is the presence of God himself" (21). 

Dangerous Wonder: The Adventure of Childlike Faith by Mike Yaconelli
In a fun, playful and challenging manner, Yaconelli invites us to a more childlike faith full of wonder, risk, doubt, mystery, honesty and passion - Here are two quotes I like:

"The critical issue of Christianity today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer good news, it is okay news. Christianity is no longer life changing, it is life enhancing. Jesus doesn't change people into wide eyed radicals anymore, He changes them into 'nice' people" (23).

"The increasing crescendo of our possessions, the ear-piercing noise of our busyness, and the soul smothering volume of our endless activity drowns out the still, small voice of God" (14).

The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath by Mark Buchanan
This is a great book for any of us wondering how we might incorporate Sabbath practices and a Sabbath attitude into our way too overcrowded and burdened lives. Buchanan is an engaging writer who also adds a "Sabbath liturgy" at the end of each chapter for potential practical integration of rest into your days/weeks.

"A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval. It is attentive to the presence of God and others even in the welter of much coming and going, rising and falling. It is still and knows God even when mountains fall into the sea" (4). 

"In a culture where busyness is fetish and stillness is laziness, rest is sloth. But without rest we miss the rest of God: the rest He invites us to enter in more fully so that we might know Him more deeply" (3).

Freedom of Simplicity by Richard Foster
Before long in the unhurried journey, you realize that freedom, simplicity, unhurriedness and stillness go hand in hand. This book was given to me by one of my spiritual heroes: Grandma Claudia. She modeled and lived a heart and home of simplicity - incidently, one also of joy, freedom, and love.

"God never guides us into an intolerable scramble of panting feverishness" (quoting Thomas Kelly in Testament of Devotion, 5).

"The joyful paradox in all this is that while simplicity is complex it is also simple. In the final analysis, we are not the ones who have to untangle all the intricacies of our complex world. There are not many things we have to keep in mind - in fact only one: to be attentive to the voice of the true Shepherd. There are not many decisions we have to make - in fact, only one: to seek first His Kingdom and His Righteousness. There are not many tasks we have to do - in fact, only one: to obey Him in all things" (184).

Testament of Devotion by Thomas Kelly
This is a Quaker classic - one of my top 5 favorite books on living a centered, fully obedient life with Christ. 

[Following the Lord fully] is something wholly different from mild, conventional religion, which, with respectable skirts held back by dainty fingers, anxiously tries to fish the world out of the mudhole of its own selfishness" (27).

"Instead of being the active, hurrying church worker and the anxious, careful planner of shrewd moves toward the good life, we become pliant creatures, less brittle, less obstinately rational...The sooner we stop thinking we are the energetic operators of religion and discover that God is at work as the Aggressor, the Invader, the Initiator, so much sooner do we discover that our task is to call men [and women] to be still and know, listen, hearken in quiet invitation to the subtle promptings of the Divine...well intentioned people are so preoccupied with the clatter of effort to do something for God that they don't hear Him asking that He might do something through them" (70-71).

 

The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron
Not necessarily a "Christian" book - but a book that guides you on an inner spiritual formation journey! Whether you consider yourself an artist or not, working through this book will help you come to discover more of who you were intimately and intricately created to be as well as how to unleash your creativity (in cooking, event planning, artistry, music, writing, crafts, flower arranging etc.) with the world in need of such beauty! Most of this is done by thought provoking, practical exercises designed to help you learn how to listen - to pay attention to what God has put in you that is you!

"The quality of life is in proportion, always, to the capacity for delight. The capacity for delight is the gift of paying attention...the reward for paying attention is always healing" (63)

In Praise of Slowness: How a worldwide movement is challenging the cult of speed by Carl Honore
I actually just picked this up from the library but already in the first few chapters know I need to have this on my shelf. Honore is doing an amazing job overviewing how we've come to regard time in such a hasty, frenetic manner - he speaks of us suffering from "time-sickness" and "time poverty."

"Time-sickness can also be a symptom of a deeper, existential malaise. In the final stages before burnout, people often speed up to avoid confronting their unhappiness...speed helps us block out the horror and barrenness of the modern world: 'Our period is obsessed with the desire to forget, and it is to fulfill that desire that it gives over to the demon of speed..." (33).

 "Some argue that round-the-clock culture can make people feel less hurried by giving them the freedom to work and run errands whenever they want to. That is wishful thinking. Once the boundaries are swept away, competition, greed and fear encourage us to apply the time-is-money principle to every single moment of the day and night" (35).

Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard
Perhaps a bit like a more modern day "Walden" adventure - Dillard invites us to open our eyes to the world around us. She speaks that "lovers" can see...but in order to see (and hence be a good lover) it takes intentionality to slow, wait, be patient and observe.

"There are lots of things to see, unwrapped gifts and free surprises. The world is fairly studded and strewn with pennies cast broadside from a generous hand...It is dire poverty indeed when a man is so malnourished and fatigued that he won't stoop to pick up a penny. But if you cultivate a healthy poverty and simplicity, the world is in fact planted in pennies, you have with your poverty bought a lifetime of days. it is that simple. What you see is what you get" (22 - in Three by Annie Dillard)

Walden by Henry David Thoreau

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not when I came to die, discover that I had not really lived...I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life..." (82).

What more needs to be said? Linger with Thoreau in this classic if you sense that you want to live life more deliberately.



How to live in Flip Flops by Sandy Gingras
Found this delightfully profound book in my friend Jannine's shop out at the coast. It really is a fun treatise on unhurriedness!

"A life in flip-flops is a cheery life (it's hard to take ourselves seriously when our shoes are making funny noises). It's a slow life (difficult to run in such flappy shoes). It's easy (slide in-slide out) and sunny (wear SPF on every toe). It's a life as casual and silly and colorful and sweet as the designs upon our feet...When we open up our feet to the sun, our lives seem to open up also..." (1-2). 

Books for the Unhurried Journey

Well, since I am going to be absent for a few weeks, I thought I'd give you some other options to keep fostering you in the unhurried revolution...

See that "books" tab just below the "saunter, linger, frolic..." tagline...click there to get reviews and access to some great titles that will foster your unhurriedness!

Thanks again for joining the unhurried revolution - as you take intentional steps to unhurry your life, what you are really doing is becoming a better lover - of God, of self and of others. And isn't that really what it's all about? The world needs more good lovers - thanks for being one of them!

Unhurry Up™ 

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Unhurry Up™ #100

Well, after 100 Unhurry Up™ posts, it's time to take a break - yup, that's right, I need to unplug and spend some focused time on revisiting many of these suggestions and reflections for my own life and livelihood.

If you have read all 100 of these over the past several months, then my hat's off to you: pat yourself on the back - take a bow - reward yourself with a nice long nap on a hammock! Thank you - I'm honored that you've journeyed with me whether I've heard from you or not!

If you've attempted to be engaged with more than 50% of these you deserve a reward. Seriously! Write me and tell me how engaging with these posts has increased your ability to love and be loved by God - and I'll give you $10 off a day reFresh!

I've tried to live every post I have suggested - with much incompleteness and failure. I find it very easy to live a virtual spirituality - much more difficult to live an actual one! But I desire to live fully present - more in love with God, myself and others because I've taken the time to unhurry up.

This journey all started from a quote by John Ortberg:

"Love and hurry are fundamentally incompatible. It is because hurry kills love that it is the single greatest detriment to the spiritual life." (in The Life you've always wanted)

I still believe this is true. I still long to eradicate hurry from my heart, soul, mind, strength and living and especially my ministry. Somedays it is beyond my control, but most days it means making a simple choice...a choice that boils down to LOVE or hurry. I hope to err on the side of love. Erring on the side of love vs hurry is like swimming upstream - most of society is positioned against unhurriedness and champions, awards, touts, and pressures us toward busyness - especially, and if not moreso, in ministry. We are the proverbial frog in the kettle - "busy" seems benign at first, but when it reaches a boiling point, we're cooked!

As Eugene Peterson says, (my very loose please don't quote this but I'm too lazy and unhurried to go look it up right now paraphrase) - Busy is to pastor as adulterer is to spouse and embezzler is to banker - it's just not an adjective you want to have describe you....
Okay here's the real quote:

"...the word busy is the symptom not of commitment but of betrayal. It is not devotion but defection. The adjective busy set as a modifier to pastor should sound to our ears like adulterous to characterize a wife or embezzling to describe a banker. It is an outrageous scandal, a blasphemous affront" (p. 17 in The Contemplative Pastor).

Please feel free to revisit the tips anytime in the archives of this blog...there's plenty to keep both you and I busy...um, er, I mean, spiritually attentive ... for a long time. In the meantime, I'll be laying on my hammock, reading, hiking, writing and not blogging for a few weeks.

Again, thanks for journeying with me in these Unhurry Up™ posts - if you have comments, questions, concerns or want to even share which one has stuck with you and impacted your life the most, please do so with comments below! Selfishly, I'd love to hear how these little musings have helped you to be more centered, focused, at rest and fully YOU - the beautiful You God has created and adores!

And don't forget the reFresh retreats, spiritual care coaching and resources that will help foster unhurried space in your life and ministry! I'd love to have you join me this fall. Check back with the website for updates and/or come be a fan at my facebook page for reFresh or you can also follow me on Twitter - after I have a little digital sabbatical, that is.

TTFN - and may you unhurry your way into a great fall season!
Oh and before I go - let me leave you with a terrific Unhurry Up™  theme song...

Groovy!

~paula

Unhurry Up™ 

www.mysoulrefresh.com  

Unhurry Up™ #99

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

with all your mind, 

with all your strength." 

~ Luke 10:27

Continuing on from the previous posts - here are some reflection questions -  mostly borrowed from a 12 step recovery article - but with some of my own added. As you consider these, it's not just trying to figure out how to have a "balanced" life or even to come up with an elaborate plan of how I can love God better. Instead, lean in and listen to how the Lord is inviting you to a life of love in the areas of your body, emotions, mind and relationships. Letting God define what a life of love looks like is more important than self-imposing huge "shoulds" "oughts" and pious expectations upon ourselves.
Today we will consider loving God with our souls/emotions: 

• Am I honoring my emotions? 
• Was I able to express my feelings in my journal or to others? 
• Have I spent quality time with someone this week? 
• Did I take time to play and laugh? 
• Were there moments this week where I didn't feel free to be myself? What masks did I use to keep others from getting close? 
• Can I describe what my heart is longing for in life and in relationship with God?
• In what ways have I responded to God emotionally loving the core of me (warts, foibles, fears and all) this week?

Now ask God,

• "How are you inviting me to love you with my soul?"

• How do you feel about His invitation?

• What one thing might you do this week to respond to his invitation?

Join the Unhurried Revolution!

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com

Unhurry Up™ #98

"Love the Lord your God with all your heart, 

with all your soul, 

with all your mind, 

with all your strength." 

~ Luke 10:27

Continuing on from the previous posts - here are some reflection questions -  mostly borrowed from a 12 step recovery article - but with some of my own added. As you consider these, it's not just trying to figure out how to have a "balanced" life or even to come up with an elaborate plan of how I can love God better. Instead, lean in and listen to how the Lord is inviting you to a life of love in the areas of your body, emotions, mind and relationships. Letting God define what a life of love looks like is more important than self-imposing huge "shoulds" "oughts" and pious expectations upon ourselves.
Today we will consider loving God with our souls: 

• Am I honoring my spirit and soul? 
• Have I spent time in prayer, meditation, or solitary thought? 
• Have I read something inspirational or listened to beautiful music? 
• What do I sense my soul is most longing for?

Now ask God,

• "How are you inviting me to love you with my soul?"

• How do you feel about His invitation?

• What one thing might you do this week to respond to his invitation?

Join the Unhurried Revolution!

Unhurry Up™

www.mysoulrefresh.com