Introduction: Fénelon’s Voice to Guide Us
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He encourages a tribe of young disciples to a subversive and
radical life of Incarnation .
Why is God so Peculiar?
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protection . We need protection from our sin , from
ourselves , from loneliness or despair , protection from all the assaults on
our heart and our soul . These are primal needs , and they draw us to God
because we realize that we are helpless on our own . It is easy then to see how
that early in our spiritual journey , we can succumb to the temptation to
believe that God is the one who makes everything right , all the time , in the
manner and at the moment we require .
Letter to a Friend Facing God’s Hard Mercy
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Abandon yourself entirely to God . Recklessly abandon
yourself to God as long as you breathe on this earth . Let loose . You are in
good hands . You can be self - abandoned because you will never be God -
abandoned .
Letter to a Friend Finding Hope in Humility
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faced . These challenges are a gift , an invitation into a
deep journey . Don’t squander it .
Letter to a Delightfully Impoverished Friend
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Give way to God . Surrender . Allow Him to wreck the
beautiful self - image you have spent so much time creating . Let God dig into
the most hidden corner of your heart where this self - obsession lurks .
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God wants clean away your filth , and then to fill you up
with goodness .
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Feel the joy of being entirely at Jesus ’ mercy . Feel the
alive pleasure of no longer clinging to your own so - called beauty , but
hoping deeply in ( and for ) the beauty of Jesus .
Letter to a Friend Finding Happiness in Suffering
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This life is a time of living between : between God’s
promises and God making those promises reality .
How Do I Pursue Spiritual Maturity?
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It only comes when Jesus is allowed room to dig in and root
around and do the slow , often painful work . It’s hard , and it takes time .
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Maturity is also easier than we might think because the
focus isn’t on us . This is the problem with all the other faddish efforts .
They often focus on our energy , our resilience , our discipline . All this
self - focus is lethal to spiritual growth . It is like poison sprayed on fresh
spring sprouts . It stops it , dead on the vine . Isn’t it strange then that so
many attempts at spiritual growth focus so much on us ?
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The context for developing spiritual maturity is a
relationship , not a laboratory . Our spiritual lives come of age through
conversations and friendships , through stories told and heard , through
learning who we are and how to listen to the God who best knows who we are .
This is why we need a guide , not a method – because there is no single way to
grow into Jesus . ~ winn
Letter to a Friend in Pain
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people . We only speak words of rebuke if we absolutely must
– and we only offer hard words to those who want to hear them . We simply speak
what we think we see , but we aren’t dogmatic about it . We know we could be
wrong , and that’s okay . Nothing is at stake for us – we aren’t trying to hold
on to our reputation , and we aren’t trying to be the spiritual authority for
everyone else .
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We face the very real danger of thinking that our
accumulation of “ spiritual ” knowledge is the indicator of our spiritual
development . Not true . Many of our spiritual truths and endless , glamorous
spiritual theories actually get in the way . Rather than leading us into a
death of self , it actually fosters more arrogant self - confidence . We love
the learning , the knowledge , the illumination of ideas , just like Adam and
Eve did in the Garden . But unfortunately , we do not love a simple trusting , a
simple obeying , a simple living .
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So stop . Stop trusting in your own mental or physical power
. Stop trusting that you can figure God out or than you can manhandle your
spiritual life , pushing and dragging it across some supposed finish line of
maturity . If you just stop all the wrestling and resisting and harried effort
, you will find yourself on your way to becoming who God has in mind for you to
be .
Letter to a Friend in Need of Perspective
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Here’s how you can start releasing control . Be humble and
simple , whether you are around the power brokers ( the very sort of people
that make you want to keep track of how well you are doing ) or alone , with
nobody to impress but yourself . Don’t make any decision because it’s what is
expected or because it’s what makes sense or because it just seems like it’s
what you want to do . That’s illusion stuff . Rather , make every decision an
act of listening to another voice : the Spirit of God . And then , after you’ve
listened and heard , obey .
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Don’t always be pining away for what might be better in the
future , forgetting about today . God is your deep pleasure now , today .
Besides , in self - protection , you give yourself to smallness , and this
smallness of yours will not magically grow to something larger or better off in
the future . Small now , small later . If we count on some distant reality to
somehow unravel all our struggles , we will be disappointed when we find our
struggles just as twisted up then as they are today .
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Let’s live in today .
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God is at work ; let him work . Abandon yourself fully to
God , in this moment , in each day . Don’t hold anything back . Don’t worry
about what will or won’t be . Just be present , as though this very moment
encompassed the whole of eternity .
Letter to a Spiritually Exhausted Soul
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have a good conversation ( and it doesn’t have to be long )
with those in your Christian community , those to whom you can really trust and
open your soul .
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talk . The frantic stuff has nothing to do with God – that
isn’t how God works . You don’t have to do a lot , just stay on the journey –
that alone would make me happy .
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Also , there is something very rich and pure about simply
not giving up , particularly when there is little pleasure in your Christian
experience . The truth is that you are actually in a better spiritual position
when you aren’t being governed by the whims of spiritual highs .
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Each day , read , just a little ; and then spend time
mediating , a little .
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should this be meditating?
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it : just love God .
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Truth is , whatever else you need to do will grow from the
soil of love .
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Just lean toward love . Just a lean , you can do that .
Letter to a Friend Afraid of Dying
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Nothing gives us a good dose of our own vulnerability more
than when our mind is running off without us . In the past we might have been
doubt - free , owning a swagger in our certainty of God and God’s ways . Now ,
the doubts run wild . No more swagger . We are scared , and we feel a vice -
grip tightening on our soul .
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Don’t hesitate . Don’t pause . Walk right into , right
through , this fearful , stripping experience .
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Is this "The Wall"?
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we need not fear death ; we have a good God .
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To die well , we don’t just need a deep confidence of how
God will judge us . We also need a deep confidence in our true identity ; and
our identity is God’s gift to us .
Letter to a Friend Wondering How to Pray
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Here’s a spiritual rule of thumb : when something connects
with us deeply , lighting a little fire in us or giving us joy , then God is
speaking . Whenever something offers a real - world connection to something we
are struggling with or some path we are to follow , then God is probably
speaking . This isn’t hard . Trust what God is saying , and obey it . Don’t
hesitate . You’ll know soon enough if it is God . The Scripture says that when
the Spirit is at work , the result is wide - open freedom .
Letter to a Friend Who Needs to Stop Trying So Hard
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Don’t worry about doing the wrong thing . If you are living
this way ( simply listening to God and your own heart ) , you aren’t going to
do the wrong thing .
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Wait then . Wait until you can listen and are in a place to
receive spiritual guidance . If you really want to enjoy all the good that
comes with spiritual illumination , then be prepared for every way this
illumination might come – even if the light comes first under the guise of
darkness .
Letter to a Spiritually Over-active Friend
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Don’t get distracted . Tone down your feverish pace and your
uber - activity – nothing good ever comes of that . Stay connected to the
present moment . Stick with it . If you do , you will have all you need , all
the grace you need . Best of all , you will receive grace , and you won’t have
to work to get it .
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You will give lots of space to quiet and soul - deep
thinking and journeying . You will need to come into a deep silence , all of
you – body , mind , and spirit – silent , quiet and restful before God .
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You will need to say no to the internal , self - inflated
voices . Fall in love with humility and with being obscure , unnoticed .
Letter to a Friend Who Cannot Stop
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We think we need to say a lot . We don’t . Just a single
word , spoken out of rest - - out of waiting for and following after God - -
will do more than all our most hyper activity , more than all the sweat we
exert putting our shoulder into the so - called “ spiritual ” work . Even then
, with our one single word of hope or faith or love , we aren’t really the ones
doing the talking anyway . The Spirit of God is speaking . And when the Spirit
speaks , there is an energy we could never muster . There is an authority , a
strength . The Spirit illuminates what is dark , motivates us to move into
action , and teaches us all the truth we need . This is when a paradox is
evident . We have done all the work that needs to be done , and we have barely
uttered a word , barely lifted a finger .
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- - both your medical doctor and your spiritual guide need
to know how compulsive and driven you are . Your soul and well as your body
will be included on your path of healing .
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Learn to let your neurotic fixations go . Learn to let
humans be just that – human .
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The world isn’t as it was intended to be ; accept that .
Otherwise , you really are going to wear yourself out . Learn to give people
space . Give them room to be who they are , having their own bents and
struggles and ways of living . Make peace with this : you can’t change people .
Let them be , and live with them , exactly where they are . Don’t be surprised
when you see people acting in ways that make no sense or when you see people
perpetrating injustice . Rest . Give way to peace . Trust in God . It’s His
world , and He sees all that is happening far more clearly than you do ( and ,
apparently , He doesn’t see the need to rush in right now and change everything
) . Be okay with the simpler way . Be okay with a more subversive path .
Quietly , restfully , just do whatever you think you should . Ignore the rest .
Letter to a Friend with a Runaway Mind
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Plant and water peace . Ignore your runaway imagination - -
its incessant noise and revved up energy does damage to your physical health
and makes your soul dry as bones . With activity , you cannibalize yourself ,
and it is to no good end . Your fidgety ways destroy any possibility of peace
or soul rest . Do you think God is able to speak in those hushed and gentle
rhythms that melt the soul when you live in the hurricane your frenzy has
stirred up in your mind ? Be quiet , and God will soon be heard .
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Be faithful to obey and pay no attention to the craziness in
your mind , to all the guilt and confusion . As you do , you will soon sense
the rivers of living water flowing just as God has promised .
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Satan will lead you into with these intense assaults and
pressures and guilt . This is serious – you absolutely must have a courageous
obedience and push back Satan’s very first advances . You must cut him down
when he first raises his head or first slings his lies .
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We hand God pleasure when we express our truest desires to
him .
Letter to a Friend Cornered by God
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Here’s an example : you have a tendency to sacrifice for
others , putting what others need before your own needs . That’s honorable ;
but even an honorable act can be a subtle poison , feeding your sense of self ,
the notion that you are coming to someone’s rescue or you are saving the day .
It’s all about you . So , even in your so - called generosity or nobility ,
self - love hides .
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Amen! This is the Type Two!
Letter from One Distressed Friend to Another
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If something is dead , it doesn’t suffer . If we were dead ,
and if we truly saw our life as being wrapped up tight with a secure identity
in Jesus , neither of us would suffer these sorts of pains in our spirit .
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Strange . If we could welcome suffering without playing
mental games , trying to scrutinize what we’ve done to deserve the suffering or
what we could manipulate to avoid it , we would find peace .
Letter to a Spiritual Addict
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Stop trying to get close to high - powered Christians with
big reputations . Stop it . If you want something to do , do this : cut off
your self - absorbed addictions . Indulging yourself might feel good for a
moment , but it’s all a ruse . Instead , be humble . Instead of falling in love
with yourself , love the fact that nobody knows your name . Love that nobody
thinks much about who you are or about how super - spiritual you are . Don’t
look for the approval of the spiritual elite , worried about what they think or
what they are doing . Look for God’s approval . Live like you only have one
good eye , and use that one eye to always watch what God is doing and saying .
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So , again , if you want something to do , do this : stop
listening to the long , droning voices . Stop listening to the endless self -
absorption . Just listen to God . Just God . In silence . See your narcissism
for what it is – and chuck it . Give yourself to what is solid , to obedience
and character , to virtue . Talk less than you act – and don’t give a second
thought to whether or not anyone sees your actions . It doesn’t matter if they
see .
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God . So be humble . And stop looking to other people to
give you what only God is able to ( and desiring to ) give you .
Letter to a Poisoned Soul
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You see , the actual object or circumstance or relationship
we are starving for isn’t the good . What we can cobble together for ourselves
is never the good – good comes when we let go and wildly abandon ourselves to
God .
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Whenever we are attached to protecting ourselves , we have
drunk a lethal poison . It is a poison that will run through us , consuming us
. This poison’s venom is an obsession with self . It’s deathly dangerous , and
I am praying for you with all my heart .
Letter to a Friend Enamored with the Mind
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If we are free , we will be immersed in joy . However , only
the Son of God can make us free . And the Son has only one way of bringing us
freedom and joy – He cuts away every rope strangling our heart . He cuts with a
razor - sharp sword , slicing away every relationship and achievement that has
become our idol . Until God does this cutting , freedom is only a word to us .
But God won’t let freedom stay in the abstract . He wants to get joy deep in
you . So I’m hoping God will cut away .
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This is the crux of the whole matter of learning how to
properly use our minds : we can only know truth in proportion to how much we
love . When knowledge is divorced from love , it really isn’t knowledge at all
. It’s just facts , dead facts . If we love extravagantly and if we stay humble
about truths we don’t understand , we will be able to live in the vast love God
has for us . ( And , remember , God is Truth ) In this place , we know what
philosophers are completely ignorant of . There is a knowledge that only the
little children and the simple - minded are able to possess . It is , as the
disciple Matthew says , a knowledge hidden from the wise and the shrewd . I
hope you discover this kind of knowledge .
Letter to a Friend with a Shut-down Heart
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Despair about yourself as much as you like . Despair about
how weak you are . Despair about how sinful you are . Despair about how
desperate and small you are . But never , never despair of God . God is
immensely good .
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You don’t want your heart to awaken .
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How can grace possibly find space to wiggle in when your
heart is locked down so tight ?
Guiding and Being Guided: A Short Biography
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Tronson also indirectly introduced Fénelon to one of his
most significant influences : Madame Guyon .
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Fénelon was irritated by some of the Jesuits
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named as a tutor to Louis XIV’s heir and grandson .
s heir and grandson .
