Formation

Author: Canon Dr. Josh R. Ritter

In November 2024, I wrote a post called What is a Micro-Formation? In that piece, I defined micro-formation as, “Any small reflective observation or intentional teaching on an aspect of Christian formation that connects directly to someone’s daily life and Christian practice.” I then suggested:

More powerful than programs, retreats, or events, we significantly undervalue the simple, intentional gestures of communication we offer to ourselves and to others. In fact, we often fail to realize that the small micro-formations we sow can have some of the biggest impacts in people’s lives.

In sum, micro-formations are the seeds Jesus told us about, and we might here recall his teachings on the powerful practice of seed casting to plant for future harvests. So, Jesus used micro-formations, and he practiced the art of seed casting. Why don’t we?

To continue reading about micro-formations, see my previous post.

Creating micro-formations of remembering we are loved

This micro-formation is a simple, powerful one…

You are a beloved child of God. There is nothing you could ever do or not do that would make God love you any more or any less.

That’s it. That’s the micro-formation. A simple statement with a powerful message, and you know what? People just don’t hear it enough. Could we ever hear it enough?

In our world of busy-ness, high demands and expectations, anxiety, and burnout, is this message one that is permeating the lives of the people in our churches? Are they getting this message? Are we assuming they know this?

My hunch is that they (and WE) don’t know this or that maybe they know this intellectually but not at a heart or gut level.

So, here is the question we need to ask ourselves, “Is God’s love the deepest Truth that we know in our lives and does that love affect everything we do in our speaking, in our thinking, and in our actions?”

If we truly knew that God loves us no matter what, would we keep playing the merit-based games that we all play? Would we keep looking for what people “deserve” in their lives, good or bad? Would we keep trying to “prove” our worth value to others? Would we continue trying to live up to other people’s expectations? Or our own?

Do we actually feel and KNOW that we are loved deeply and without conditions by God? Do we experience the undeserved and unreserved love of God in our lives every moment of every day?

Because that is the good news Jesus brought to us. God’s exorbitant love that fully accepts every person as they are without condition is the best news out there, and if we don’t experience this as good news in our lives, then what is the point of good news?

That’s why this micro-formation of remembrance is such a powerful one. We just don’t hear it enough. It doesn’t saturate our lives. It doesn’t really “sink in.” We don’t actually believe it. We think about it, and it registers with us on an intellectual level. But we don’t feel it in our bones.

And that’s the thing about God’s love. We don’t believe it because it isn’t something we can earn. We are conditioned to believe we must earn things and deserve things, but God’s love isn’t about proving anything. It’s pure generosity. It transforms us when we let it saturate and soften our hearts, sinking in like water sinking into hard earth.

God’s love is a marinade that tenderizes our hearts, and the way it marinates us is through prayer because prayer is the way we come to dream with God. To envision God’s holy visions.

And we need this prayer in our lives because we yearn for meaningful connection, and prayer is our direct connection with God. It is the water of life that slowly soaks into our hearts of cracked earth and begins to soften us.

Prayer is our direct connection with God. It is a living contact with God.

It’s not a new class we can take where we learn about God or about prayer. We are not learning how to pray. Instead, prayer is life itself.

Paul says, “Pray without ceasing,” and we hear this as a demand. But it’s not a demand. It’s a question…of curiosity and wonder. The question is this, “What would it be like if we lived a life of unceasing prayer?” Because of what prayer is, asks Paul, why would we not want to pray without ceasing?

The sacred is a necessity in our lives, says Rabbi Abraham Heschel, and prayer is born of this necessity.

We pursue the good, the true, and the beautiful, yes, of course we do, but this is not the end goal of religious life. Our orientation is always to the Holy.

Our life is not about the “Good” of Greek philosophy. It is about the Holy of the sacred movement of theological life.

Yes, theology is a way of living. It is not an abstract set of systematic thinking. Theology is the embodiment of what we say about God. It is our lens through which we view the world, make choices within and about the world, adopt attitudes and behaviors, and develop habits around which we are formed within the world.

Oftentimes, we don’t really reflect on the ways our theology affects our daily lives. Many of us don’t even know what it is we are worshipping in our daily lives. What I mean here by “worship” is that thing in our life that is getting all of our time, energy, attention, and devotion. Is it God? Maybe. But many times it is not.

It’s important for us to reflect on what it is that’s getting our worship because our acts of worship reveal to us what is most “holy” in our own lives. They reveal to us what Paul Tillich calls our Ultimate Concern. In biblical language, this is our idolatry. And we become like that which we worship.

We are formed into the shape of what we worship and practice.

So, what is it that we are worshipping? What are we truly praying to? What idol is governing our life?

• Is it money? The answer is yes.
• Is it success? The answer is yes.
• Is it prestige and reputation? The answer is yes.
• Is it possessions and distractions? The answer is yes.

Jesus highlights and rejects all of these idols in his desert teachings when he is tempted by the Confuser, but these are the idols that we continue to worship.

They have our devotion. They have our time. They have our attention. They have our allegiance. They have our undying loyalty and fidelity. They have our passions, our commitments, and our desires.

The reason we turn to these idols is because we forget that God loves us no matter what. We are beloved children of God. There is nothing that we could do or not do that would make God love us any more or any less, and we have direct access to God through prayer.

God’s love is the shape of our lives, and prayer is the aliveness of God in our lives. This is our micro-formation. It is simple. It is direct. It is needed. It is healing, and we must offer it to the world whenever we can.

Every moment is a formation moment. Every moment is a good moment to remind people of God’s all-encompassing and exorbitant love.

In these ways, you are co-creating narratives of meaning, narratives of purpose, rhythms of life, communal identities, social cohesion, and…perhaps most importantly…trust…in each other and in God.

Never underestimate the power of the micro-formation!