Jan Johnson - Abundant Simplicity: Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace

Abundant Simplicity

Discovering the Unhurried Rhythms of Grace

Jan Johnson

Formatio books from InterVarsity Press follow the rich tradition of the church in the journey of spiritual formation. These books are not merely about being informed, but about being transformed by Christ and conformed to his image. Formatio stands in InterVarsity Presss evangelical publishing tradition by integrating Gods Word with spiritual practice and by prompting readers to move from inward change to outward witness. InterVarsity Press uses the chambered nautilus for Formatio, a symbol of spiritual formation because of its continual spiral journey outward as it moves from its center. We believe that each of us is made with a deep desire to be in Gods presence. Formatio books help us to fulfill our deepest desires and to become our true selves in light of Gods grace.

InterVarsity Press
P.O. Box 1400
Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426
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2011 by Jan Johnson

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

While all stories in this book are true, some names and identifying information in this book have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals involved.

Design: Cindy Kiple
Images: mariia sniegirova/depostiphotos.com

ISBN 978-0-8308-6863-6 (digital)
ISBN 978-0-8308-3547-8 (print)

: Renovar Spiritual Formation Bible (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005), p. 2313.

: Dallas Willard, The Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. 203.

: Ibid., p. 205.

: Fr. Pedro Arrupe, quoted in Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (New York: Crossroad, 2003), p. 122.

: Thomas Kempis Imitation of Christ 1.3.4.

: Tom Morris, Philosophy for Dummies (New York: Wiley, 1999), p. 17.

: An excellent but simple resource for the prayer of examen is Dennis Linn, Sheila Fabricant Linn and Matthew Linn, Sleeping with Bread(Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 1995).

: Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, Patient Trust, in Hearts on Fire: Praying with Jesuits, ed. Michael Harter, S.J. (St. Louis: Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1993), p. 58.

: Associated Press, Religion Isnt Curbing Materialism, Poll Says, Los Angeles Times, September 24, 1994, pp. B10-B11. See also Robert Wuthnow, God and Mammon in America(New York: Free Press, 1998).

: Ibid.

: Patrick Kiger, Living Ever Larger, Los Angeles Times Magazine, June 9, 2002, p. 12.

: Richard Foster, The Freedom of Simplicity (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1981), p. 175.

: William James, Psychology: Briefer Course, in Writings 1878-1899 (New York: Library of America, 1992), p. 150.

: Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, Your Money or Your Life (New York: Penguin, 2002), p. 18.

.

: Teresa of Avila, The Interior Castle, trans. Kieran Kavanaugh and Otioio Rodriguez, The Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 1979).

.

: Bruce Wydick, Where Your Treasure Is, Prism, March-April 2009, p. 21.

: Ibid.

: Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart (Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2002), p. 9.

: Dallas Willard, Spirituality and Ministry (lecture given at Fuller Seminary, June 19, 2002, class notes by Jan Johnson).

: Gregory of Nyssa, The Life of Moses, trans. Abraham Malherbe and Everett Ferguson, The Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 1978), p. 137.

: Newer versions have chosen medical terms such as healthy or good instead of single, but the King James Versions terminology works well with verse 33: Seek ye first...

: Fr. Pedro Arrupe, quoted in Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (New York: Crossroad, 2003), p. 122.

: Sren Kierkegaard, Purity of Heart: Edifying Discourses in Various Spirits, in A Kierkegaard Anthology, ed. Robert Bretall, trans. Douglas Steere (New York: Modern Library, 1946), pp. 271-74.

: John Woolman, The Journal of John Woolman (New York: Corinth Books, 1961), pp. vii-x, 5-21.

: This story is told in Richard Foster, Streams of Living Water (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1998), p. 139.

: Woolman, Journal, pp. vii-x, 5-21.

: Jeremy Taylor, Selected Works, The Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 1990), p. 444.

: Henry David Thoreau, Walden (New York: Dodd, Mead, 1946), p. 72.

: Evelyn Underhill, The Ways of the Spirit, ed. Grace Adolphsen Brame (New York: Crossroad, 1990), p. 160.

: Paula Huston, The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life (Chicago: Loyola Press, 2003), p. xiv.

: Steve Lopez, The Rigors of Life Unplugged, Los Angeles Times, May 6, 2009, p. A2.

: Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), p. 79.

: John Chapman, Spiritual Letters (London: Sheed & Ward, 1935), p. 25.

: Quaker Spirituality: Selected Writings, ed. Douglas Steere. The Classics of Western Spirituality (Mahwah, N.J.: Paulist, 1984), p. 61.

: Ibid.

: William Barclay, The Gospel of Matthew, The Daily Study Bible (Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1958), p. 157.

: Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs: The Gift of Contemplative Prayer (New York: Crossroad, 2003), p. 143.

: Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), p. 228.

: Thomas Kempis The Imitation of Christ 1.10.

: Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (New York: Doubleday, 1972), p. 190.

: James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (New York: Modern Library, 1952), p. 644.

: Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1988), p. 80.

: Shirley Carter Hughson,