RECOVERING DEPTH IN AN ANXIOUS AGE
Notifications are constantly interrupting our thoughts.
Productivity defines how much we understand and define our self-worth (and the worth of others).
Even how many of us approach and understand spirituality is measured by emotional intensity and production. We want to feel:
Beneath all the noise we are constantly surrounded by is a quieter hunger: a desire and need to be present, grounded, and whole. Embedded in the busyness of our spiritual striving is the gentle nudging of the Spirit to breathe, compassionate openness, and creative being.
Contemplative living (and I would argue spirituality as a whole) is not an escape from responsibility or hiding from reality. It is the on-going practice of becoming more deeply attentive to God, who doesn't reside far removed in the sky (our beloved sky-daddy) but here with us, in the every day, in the dirt and grime of our everydayness.
Contemplative living is learning to live and respond from a centered space rather than a scattered (and constantly reacting). We become more aware of the Divine, more present with others, and more attuned to what's happening internally. We grow our capacity to surrender, releasing control of the things we never really have control over. And we trust, believing that God is already at work and that all things are not wasted in this life.
THE CRISIS OF DISTRACTION AND PRODUCTION
Anxious culture fragments us. // Productive fixation traps us.
These two things are constantly pulling us outward, and the results are our interior lives atrophies. We operate from a place of frantic reaction. And over time, this produces:
The beauty of a contemplative faith: it begins by reclaiming attention for presence, not for productivity, not for self-optimization or "perfection", and not for validation from others.
It's easy to dismiss Contemplation as a form of emotional detachment, anti-intellectualism, or something specifically for monks or mystics. But here is the truth: I believe we are all created for contemplation (even if you don't profess Christianity, there is still that drive to connect with something much deeper than the self).
Contemplation is simply consenting to God's (or the Divine) presence in the present moment. And, it's a stream within our tradition that's constantly woven throughout our stories and shared practices.
Productivity defines how much we understand and define our self-worth (and the worth of others).
Even how many of us approach and understand spirituality is measured by emotional intensity and production. We want to feel:
Inspired.
Loved.
Assured.
Involved.
There's nothing wrong with feeling these things, but we believe we ought to always feel these things. And when we don't we assume something is wrong with our faith. We measure our faith often to the expectations we grew up with or from others.Beneath all the noise we are constantly surrounded by is a quieter hunger: a desire and need to be present, grounded, and whole. Embedded in the busyness of our spiritual striving is the gentle nudging of the Spirit to breathe, compassionate openness, and creative being.
Contemplative living (and I would argue spirituality as a whole) is not an escape from responsibility or hiding from reality. It is the on-going practice of becoming more deeply attentive to God, who doesn't reside far removed in the sky (our beloved sky-daddy) but here with us, in the every day, in the dirt and grime of our everydayness.
Contemplative living is learning to live and respond from a centered space rather than a scattered (and constantly reacting). We become more aware of the Divine, more present with others, and more attuned to what's happening internally. We grow our capacity to surrender, releasing control of the things we never really have control over. And we trust, believing that God is already at work and that all things are not wasted in this life.
THE CRISIS OF DISTRACTION AND PRODUCTION
Anxious culture fragments us. // Productive fixation traps us.
These two things are constantly pulling us outward, and the results are our interior lives atrophies. We operate from a place of frantic reaction. And over time, this produces:
- Spiritual dryness or emptiness,
- Decision fatigue or disengagement from the things that are actually important for us,
- Loss sense of self and an unhealthy ego.
- Emotional reactivity or numbness as we disengage emotionally or even mentally.
The beauty of a contemplative faith: it begins by reclaiming attention for presence, not for productivity, not for self-optimization or "perfection", and not for validation from others.
It's easy to dismiss Contemplation as a form of emotional detachment, anti-intellectualism, or something specifically for monks or mystics. But here is the truth: I believe we are all created for contemplation (even if you don't profess Christianity, there is still that drive to connect with something much deeper than the self).
Contemplation is simply consenting to God's (or the Divine) presence in the present moment. And, it's a stream within our tradition that's constantly woven throughout our stories and shared practices.
THE FIVE ANCHORS
To live contemplatively, we anchor ourselves in five ways.
Intentionality
WALKING IN THE SPIRIT OF LIFE
An intention is a guiding principle and a path for how we want to show up in life.
In this guiding principle, we affirm the person we want to become and how we see ourselves growing into God's calling. Whenever we make the choice to set an intention, we are actively aligning our lives with our values, or those things that we consider important.
An intention is a guiding principle and a path for how we want to show up in life.
In this guiding principle, we affirm the person we want to become and how we see ourselves growing into God's calling. Whenever we make the choice to set an intention, we are actively aligning our lives with our values, or those things that we consider important.
Balance
DRINKING FROM THE WELLSPRING OF LIFE
Our faith embraces rhythm and every rhythm following a beat. This rhythm was modeled by Jesus himself, and the beat led by the Spirit.
Balance is choosing to wholeheartedly lean into the season we find ourselves: resting when we need to rest and acting when we need to act. We give and we fill ourselves much like our very breath.
Our faith embraces rhythm and every rhythm following a beat. This rhythm was modeled by Jesus himself, and the beat led by the Spirit.
Balance is choosing to wholeheartedly lean into the season we find ourselves: resting when we need to rest and acting when we need to act. We give and we fill ourselves much like our very breath.
Imagination
SEEING IN THE WAY OF LIFE
Our creativity, our imaginations, our curiosity--these are essential parts of who we are as humans, and a reflection of who God is.
Our God is one who is creative and imaginative and curious. Our spirituality is also creative and imaginative. We rely upon this as children to learn, to connect with others, and to personally grow. It doesn't end when we become adults.
Our creativity, our imaginations, our curiosity--these are essential parts of who we are as humans, and a reflection of who God is.
Our God is one who is creative and imaginative and curious. Our spirituality is also creative and imaginative. We rely upon this as children to learn, to connect with others, and to personally grow. It doesn't end when we become adults.
Pause
STILLNESS IN THE MIDST OF LIFE
Faith resists urgency as identity. Silence. Sabbath. Stillness. These are all significant practices for our faith to grow and blossom, especially if we are extroverted.
We create and celebrate natural pauses and the liminal spaces in our lives. It's taking that time away from the incredible pace of our lives to connect with God and to listen for God's voice. When we don't create space for holy wonderment, we often miss the presence of God that is right there in front, around, and within us.
Faith resists urgency as identity. Silence. Sabbath. Stillness. These are all significant practices for our faith to grow and blossom, especially if we are extroverted.
We create and celebrate natural pauses and the liminal spaces in our lives. It's taking that time away from the incredible pace of our lives to connect with God and to listen for God's voice. When we don't create space for holy wonderment, we often miss the presence of God that is right there in front, around, and within us.
Becoming
RESTING IN THE PRESENCE OF LIFE
Change is constant in life and there's no escaping it. Contemplative living is learning how to enter into change through roundedness and openness which results in being more resilient.
When we talk about growing in maturity, we are ultimately talking about brokenness and the process of the perfecting grace we receive and nurture through that brokenness. Grace is all around us, and it pervades all of creation. Grace is God's presence, and God's presence creates, heals, forgives reconciles, and transforms the whole of creation.We get to be partners in that grace.
Change is constant in life and there's no escaping it. Contemplative living is learning how to enter into change through roundedness and openness which results in being more resilient.
When we talk about growing in maturity, we are ultimately talking about brokenness and the process of the perfecting grace we receive and nurture through that brokenness. Grace is all around us, and it pervades all of creation. Grace is God's presence, and God's presence creates, heals, forgives reconciles, and transforms the whole of creation.We get to be partners in that grace.
WHY THIS MATTERS
Being a young adult is not simply a transitional phase. It is a season of identity formation. It is marked by significant change and transitions, expected to curate a life vocationally, relationally, spiritually. We can find this empowering, but it can also serve to be destabilizing.
Without interior grounding, identity becomes reactive, constantly comparing ourselves through social media, striving to find peer approval, wrestling with cultural narratives about success as it constantly shifts.
When identity is externally sourced, resilience weakens. Every success inflates us. Every setback destabilizes us. Every opinion threatens us. And in that instability, pace accelerates.
We push harder.
Say yes more often.
Sleep less.
Prove more.
Without having spiritual anchors, we shift in unhealthy ways that makes it harder to be resilient. We default to rhythms that promise security but produce exhaustion instead.
Through contemplative living we learn how to detached from thoughts, expectations, and emotional triggers that often leave us in a flight/fight/fawn posture during stressful situations. When these postures become habitual, they shape our identity. We begin to believe we are the anxious one, the achiever, the avoider, the fixer. And we live from that place.
Contemplative living interrupts this cycle.
We create space, a pause, that makes room for God's grace and presence to flow within us. We discover that we are not beholden to our anxious thoughts. We are not defined by our emotional surges. We are not obligated to react immediately. That space is where grace becomes experiential rather than conceptual.
When we slow down enough to notice, we become aware of God’s presence, not as an abstract doctrine, but as sustaining reality.
Jesus consistently modeled interior anchoring.
He withdrew to pray.
He resisted urgency.
He refused to be controlled by public demand.
He did not collapse under criticism.
Contemplative living invites us to re-attune ourselves — again and again — to that same presence within and around us. This is not about achieving spiritual perfection. It is about returning.
When comparison rises, we return.
When anxiety spikes, we return.
When pressure intensifies, we return.
Over time, that returning forms us. And we live through a more God-centered part of us, leading us to see more creative approaches to the constant pull towards binary thinking and the dangers of single-stories. Contemplative grounding widens perspective.
We begin to see nuance. Possibility. Third ways.
From that center, resilience grows — not as hardness, but as rootedness.
And rootedness allows you to navigate change without being consumed by it.
Without interior grounding, identity becomes reactive, constantly comparing ourselves through social media, striving to find peer approval, wrestling with cultural narratives about success as it constantly shifts.
When identity is externally sourced, resilience weakens. Every success inflates us. Every setback destabilizes us. Every opinion threatens us. And in that instability, pace accelerates.
We push harder.
Say yes more often.
Sleep less.
Prove more.
Without having spiritual anchors, we shift in unhealthy ways that makes it harder to be resilient. We default to rhythms that promise security but produce exhaustion instead.
Through contemplative living we learn how to detached from thoughts, expectations, and emotional triggers that often leave us in a flight/fight/fawn posture during stressful situations. When these postures become habitual, they shape our identity. We begin to believe we are the anxious one, the achiever, the avoider, the fixer. And we live from that place.
Contemplative living interrupts this cycle.
We create space, a pause, that makes room for God's grace and presence to flow within us. We discover that we are not beholden to our anxious thoughts. We are not defined by our emotional surges. We are not obligated to react immediately. That space is where grace becomes experiential rather than conceptual.
When we slow down enough to notice, we become aware of God’s presence, not as an abstract doctrine, but as sustaining reality.
Jesus consistently modeled interior anchoring.
He withdrew to pray.
He resisted urgency.
He refused to be controlled by public demand.
He did not collapse under criticism.
Contemplative living invites us to re-attune ourselves — again and again — to that same presence within and around us. This is not about achieving spiritual perfection. It is about returning.
When comparison rises, we return.
When anxiety spikes, we return.
When pressure intensifies, we return.
Over time, that returning forms us. And we live through a more God-centered part of us, leading us to see more creative approaches to the constant pull towards binary thinking and the dangers of single-stories. Contemplative grounding widens perspective.
We begin to see nuance. Possibility. Third ways.
From that center, resilience grows — not as hardness, but as rootedness.
And rootedness allows you to navigate change without being consumed by it.
BEGINNING PRACTICE
Take this beginning practice as a way to explore Contemplative living.
Note: if you haven't done something like this before, it will be difficult to do at first, but if you stay with it, it does become easier to practice. If you find this practice easy, consider increasing the time.
Sit quietly for five minutes. This means no music or background noise (unless you are in a public place).
Draw your attention to your breath. Fill each breath in and out as it comes (you don't have to try and change the rhythm, just let it be).
As you breathe in, silently say or think "Here."
As you breathe out, silently say or think "I am."
When your mind wanders, gently return to your breath and these three words.
You aren't trying to feel anything. You are practicing consent.
Note: if you haven't done something like this before, it will be difficult to do at first, but if you stay with it, it does become easier to practice. If you find this practice easy, consider increasing the time.
Sit quietly for five minutes. This means no music or background noise (unless you are in a public place).
Draw your attention to your breath. Fill each breath in and out as it comes (you don't have to try and change the rhythm, just let it be).
As you breathe in, silently say or think "Here."
As you breathe out, silently say or think "I am."
When your mind wanders, gently return to your breath and these three words.
You aren't trying to feel anything. You are practicing consent.
Contemplative living begins and ends here.
Posted in (W)Holy Faith | Contemplative Living
Posted in Stillness, Prayer, Rule of Life, Silence, Margins
Posted in Stillness, Prayer, Rule of Life, Silence, Margins
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