When your faith is shaken by life to the foundation or core-- you have options, our traditional responses are:
1) Double down to your faith that no longer works and it's practices that already isn't working for you.
2) Give up your faith- jump ship. Pitch it...
but this book leads you to think- to have a growth mindset- seeking the Way of Christ, by inviting Jesus and the Holy Spirit to help you see that there are more options, more ways to deepen your faith, to live in love with the Lord Jesus, and to swim in the eternal current.
Facebook Link to Aaron's 3 minute intro to the book.
As someone who was not familiar with a lot of formal practiced based faith practices, after the first two chapters I had more questions than answers, but from chapter three on, Aaron took a chapter to explain his discovery process, attempts in a church setting to include the liturgy, and other faith based practices, as well as his personal and family journey to live out faith practices in deep, meaningful ways.
The book gives resources, ideas, and examples of these practices with the analogy of all of us swimming in the eternal current, and provides hope for even those who doubt their faith (as Aaron once did while working as a music team minister!). It's thought provoking, encouraging, and generated ideas, thoughts, and personal connections for me to explore, build on, and recognize that I already had created my own faith based practices and found others, I just wasn't calling them 'practices.'
This is a book that made me think, that I want to review/re-read- list quotes that I highlighted- and really process, examine, and enhance how ask God what practices would help me know Him better, not just believing him Him, but living a life that reflects and practices beliefs moment by probably pushes me from really liking it- to finding it amazing. Many books I read seem like a moment, hour by hour, season by season. And that makes it a GREAT book in my mind, and review, or for someone else, but this book the reader is a participant in, and also has a well researched with suggested readings to grow further.
Waterbrook says this about the book:
A call for Christians to move past the shallows of idealized beliefs and into a deeper, more vibrant, beatitude-like faith rooted in sacred practices and intimate experiences with God.
This is what drew me to the book and I was not at all disappointed. As a believer, my hope is that faith is rooted in intimate experiences with God, and that is what this book highlights. And this is what will take time to develop and experience with God. (I highlighted 4 % of the book in a pdf form- that makes is so hard to highlight- it's that good). I'm going to paste some favorite quotes here- to give a picture of some thought provoking statements.
*participate in that eternally flowing good work through practices that allow God’s Spirit to do what only God can do. Grace alone makes the River flow, but we need to wade into the water. Grace alone makes the vine grow, but we need to build the trellis. Grace alone makes the wind blow, but spiritual practices help us humbly open the window, day by day, moment by moment. The invitation is participation. (location 83)
* Location 190 And so we began to experiment with different forms, practices, and ways to worship.
*Location 205 God’s grace drenched us as we stumbled and splashed around with new (old) practices and worship forms. I couldn’t wait to see what was around the corner.
*Location 279 But at the Practice, there is nowhere to hide and it forces me to engage. I’m not sure I always like it, but I know I need it.”
*Location 427
I began to understand that the invitation of Christ has to do with far more than my personal salvation. While I am clearly a sinner and my only hope is Christ, securing a guarantee about my eternal destination did not seem to be Jesus’s central concern.
*Location 445
We cultivate our God-given talents so they can be used to help the whole. We soak in the Scriptures to let God’s story wash over us. We draw close to the poor because Christ is with them in a special way. Discipleship and mission and community no longer sound like optional add-ons but are essential to living fully into the invitation. When we get clear about the full extent of the big story, a practice-based life becomes a tangible way to humbly say yes
*Location 535
Brother Lawrence] thought it was a shame that some people pursued certain activities (which, he noted, they did rather imperfectly due to human shortcomings), mistaking the means for the end. He said that our sanctification does not depend as much on changing our activities as it does on doing them for God rather than for ourselves.
*Location 909
What is the ache that this beatitude addresses? • How do we tend to avoid and distract ourselves from this ache? • What is the kingdom reality that Jesus offers to address this ache? • What practice can help us align our ache with Jesus’s kingdom vision?
* Location 1071
“When you boil it all down, each spiritual discipline is simply a slightly different way to offer our bodies to God as a living sacrifice.” It really is that simple . . . and life changing.
*Location 1104
“For the next three to six months, what concrete practices will help me close the gap between my deep longing and my lived reality in terms of my relationships with God, myself, my community, and the world?”
*Location 1218
Ecumenism helps us humbly receive and participate in the full reality of what actually is—so the world might know the One who holds it all together.
*Location 1240
Sabbath keeping, biblical lament, Lectio Divina, praying for the world, washing feet, inductive Bible study, Passing the Peace, the discipline of celebration, and on and on.
*Location 1428
It’s challenging when you realize that almost none of the commands can be fully obeyed in a traditional church gathering. (a comment on we can't live faith alone or only in church!)
Having not having been part of the Practice, when Aaron Niequist (author) talked about the Eternal Current- a river of grace- swimming in the stream-- with these new practices- I admit I had confusion and felt like I might not grasp the book since these analogies seemed pretty generic and vague- and his initial comments about his childhood faith were more critical than my experiences in the same faith based group have been. So I didn't know if these new ideas would be relevant for me. But I love to learn- and I love to read- and my interest was peaked.
After reading the first two chapters, as I said earlier, I had more questions than answers, and I had no more book... so that was interesting- but when I was able to get the entire book- and continue reading- it all came together, and most importantly, most if not all of the basic terms, concepts, and examples were better defined and explained in subsequent chapters. So my worry was unnecessary.
Each chapter explored a different aspect of learning to live a practice based faith. Aaron shares from his personal experience, reading, exposure through the Practice, and his acquaintances with other faith based leaders, priests, authors, musicians, etc. His embracing diversity and the One Church- the full church universal who all have different styles, traditions, etc but are worshiping the same God, and we can learn from one another.
His call is challenging, complete with volumes of suggested reading if a reader wants to grasp with even more depth the concepts or practices highlighted, but there are also examples, and even some practices given to try immediately. So it is a great way to be exposed and learn how to swim in the eternal current...and I've continued exploring and pondering since I finished my first reading of the book two months ago, and now I have the hard copy to highlight, make notations, and really dig into.
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