Cultivating Shalom: Finding peace in the midst of disruption, uncertainty and ordinary life

By Deborah Judas

With all the noise and uncertainty, along with our fast paced world and jam-packed schedules, it is often difficult to keep sight of the goodness and beauty that surrounds us. Finding peace seems elusive when we are constantly bombarded with bad news, negativity, and reminders that we don’t have enough.

Is it possible to be content and fulfilled when there is a perpetual underlying sense that we don’t measure up? How can we contribute in positive ways to bring about healing, justice and hope to our world, even in the midst of disruption and disappointment?

The answers to these questions seem to lie in a familiar, ancient writing.

Cultivating Shalom uses the imagery and wisdom of Psalm 23 to uncover new insights on what it means to flourish and experience a deep sense of wholeness, delight and wonder in all seasons of life. This is not ten easy steps to wellness. Rather, it is an invitation to keep company with God and others, providing a new lens that reveals the extraordinary power of ordinary life.

Cultivating Shalom is down to earth and practical as it examines how paying attention to the small things and putting simple practices into place will cultivate the wonder of shalom in your own life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Sep 28, 2023
• ISBN: 9798385003198

Deborah Judas

Deborah Judas is a retreat facilitator and soul care practitioner who seeks to help people live holistically and lead from a robust and healthy spirituality. She is also a pastor, a leadership and wellness coach, and the Director of Formation with Forge Canada. Deborah is a graduate of the Centre for Spiritual Formation and holds a Master’s degree in Pastoral Ministry with Carey Theological College. She lives in Vancouver, Canada with her husband Walt.

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ISBN: 979-8-3850-0320-4 (sc)

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ISBN: 979-8-3850-0319-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023913329

WestBow Press rev. date: 09/27/2023

To my dad, Phil Collins, who lived out Psalm 23 with grace, determination and humor. He faithfully followed his Good Shepherd through all the peaks and valleys of life. I celebrate that he is now experiencing the fullness of shalom for all eternity.

Cultivating Shalom is an invitation into a deeper journey, a sacred journey into the unexplored depths of the mind-blowing idea and practice of shalom. Through an expansive exploration and reframing of Psalm 23, Deb leads us into spaces where we are able to pursue the depth of wholeness that God as our shepherd so desires for his people. With a balanced rhythm of principle and praxis, we are encouraged to search for and pay attention to the voice of Jesus in a world desperately vying for our attention. Cultivating Shalom is a wonderfully written invitation into an awakening of life as God intended it to be.

~Mark Nelson, Executive Director, Three Rivers Collaborative and co-author of Reframation: Seeing God, People, and Mission Through Reenchanted Frames

In her exploration of Psalm 23, the author, Deborah Judas, acts like a good shepherd. Through persistent encouragement and prodding, she invites the reader to a place of quiet and rest where they can find shalom for their soul. Insightful, inspirational and practical, her book calls us to take a close look at our lives and deliberately cultivate the conditions where we allow the Good Shepherd to renew us and restore us. In a world of busyness, confusion and activity, Judas whispers to us how we can become still and know that He is God. For any who are weary and heavy laden, this book is a map that, if followed, will truly help readers cultivate God’s shalom in their lives. I heartily recommend it.

~Dr. Mark Davies, Ph.D. Registered Psychologist

CONTENTS

Introduction

Part 1

I Lack Nothing

Chapter 1 Life without Lack

Chapter 2 How do we Cultivate a Life of Shalom?

Part 2

He Restores My Soul

Chapter 3 The Power of Resta

Chapter 4 What Is Your Soul Saying to You?

Chapter 5 Why Soul Care?

Chapter 6 Sabbath-Keeping: Rest for the Soul

Part 3

For His Name’s Sake

Chapter 7 What Voices Are You Listening To?

Chapter 8 Listening for the Shepherd’s Voice: Prayers of the Heart

Chapter 9 For His Name’s Sake

Chapter 10 The Mystery of Thanksgiving

Part 4

Even Though …

Chapter 11 Ebb and Flow: Living in the Contrasts

Chapter 12 Finding Shalom through Lament

Chapter 13 Lament as a Kingdom Practice

Chapter 14 Cultivating Shalom in Times of Disruption

Part 5

Shalom in Enemy Territory

Chapter 15 Finding True Peace

Chapter 16 How Long?

Chapter 17 Renewing the Mind: Laying Claim to Shalom

Chapter 18 Living Out of the Overflow

Part 6

Love and Shalom

Chapter 19 Shalom and Love

Chapter 20 Dying to Self: An Invitation to New Life

Chapter 21 Goodness and Love

Part 7

Shalom - From Ordinary Life to Eternity

Chapter 22 The End or the Beginning?

Developing a Rhythm of Life Through Daily and Weekly Practices

The End and the Beginning for Me

INTRODUCTION

The world is a perfectly good and safe place to be.

—Dallas Willard

Deconstruction is the easy part. Tearing down stuff that you no longer want or need feels liberating. It’s like demo day on home improvement shows. There is great satisfaction in getting rid of the old because you know something better is coming in the rebuilding of your home. It is a ton of work, yet it’s fun and rewarding. There’s a clear plan to follow as you put things back together, as well as the ability, hopefully, to figure out any problems you might bump into along the way.

Deconstruction in the spiritual realm however, is much more tricky. Do we know something better is coming? Faith is believing in what we cannot see. It is staring at the face of doubt and choosing to pursue faith anyway. We think we can simply walk away from old ways and traditions and outdated thinking and carry on with our lives. But this is not how it works. It’s not enough to let go of old ways of thinking and acting because once those things are gone, you realize there is a gaping hole where all your confusion and skepticism used to reside. Whatever clarity you may have is still haunted by the old ways. In the deconstruction of my beliefs, I realized that the gap needed to be filled—and not with just anything. Certainly not with meaningless and trivial substitutes for a faith. At best, those things are usually temporary and short-lived. At worst, complacency, apathy, and even disdain can set in. Over time, we can become content with the nothingness and then find ourselves in a worse predicament.

A rebuilding must take place. But how does one go about doing so?

The truth is that regardless of what you believe, faith is a perplexing yet fascinating thing. Hopefully it is ever changing and deepening. However frustrating it can be, there is a mysterious beauty to it that nothing else can offer. It is a sacred journey and is not for the faint of heart. Hence, the discovery that I only held part of the story within me was a little unnerving. But the longing inside me demanded I seek further. I could not go without faith; of that I was sure. So the question was no longer What do I get rid of? Rather, it became What exactly do I believe? followed by How will I actually live this out in real life?

It was a slow awakening to a much larger story. Gratefully, it is a beautiful story of God, and one that I hope more people will grapple with and give a fighting chance.

This writing of Cultivating Shalom is my attempt at conveying the wonder of rebuilding my life with God. Psalm 23, so often read at funerals, is not a psalm about death but rather about life—abundant life. It provided the perfect setting in which to delve into the angst of my soul, and it did not disappoint.

If you are holding this book and are considering reading it, I am going to assume there is some kind of longing inside of you. Unless you are a friend or family member of mine who feels obliged to read my work, I believe something must have drawn you to this place. In either case, I fully believe that God is up to something good in you, and I am so glad you are coming along with me on this pilgrimage through Psalm 23. First, because the journey of learning and growing is done best with others rather than alone. Second, because I believe God has prepared a feast for us! I am excited to pull up a chair to the metaphorical table in the company of those who desire a deeper understanding of the abundant life God is continually offering us. I hope you’re excited too, or at least curious. It is my prayer that as we make our way through Psalm 23, we will become more fully aware of the sacredness of the unique life each of us has been given.

I am going to dive right in and outline the purpose of this book and how I firmly believe God desires shalom for each one of us all the time. I do not mean those fleeting moments of happiness and contentment, but the constant and continuous living in the rest and wholeness of God, no matter what is happening in the world or in our own lives.

I feel compelled to write about this not only because of the world circumstances we find ourselves in—at the time of this writing, we are living through a global pandemic—but also because of my many conversations with people who do not feel the love of God. They are not able to experience his goodness or even recognize his work in their lives. These people include those who are new to the way of Jesus as well as those who have been following him a long time! Most of all, I am writing because of my own hard-fought faith journey. It has been a lifelong process with many twists and turns and ups and downs, but I am finally coming to terms with myself and even settling into a sweet place of contentment with God. It seems I am a slow learner because it has been decades in the making, but I am beginning to realize that God is not seeking to punish and control me. Nor is he indifferent to me; in fact, it’s quite the opposite. I have realized that God does care about me. He deeply delights in me and desperately desires for me to receive and experience his gift of complete wholeness. I am even catching myself believing at times that God is trustworthy.

So I come to you with my own thought distortions, imperfect life, and unanswered questions as a fellow sojourner on the path toward shalom with a humble offering of peace to you. Perhaps together, through the lens of Psalm 23, we will discover God’s delight and goodness toward us and in turn experience true shalom.

Laying the Foundation

I need to frame the conversation we are going to have throughout this book with an understanding of the two words in the book title, Cultivating Shalom.

Let me start with the second word first.

Shalom is heavily loaded word but in a good way. Most people translate it quickly into the word peace, which is not untrue, but it barely scratches the surface. When we think of the word peace, we often reduce it to a sense of calm or tranquility. That is also true, but is not complete when using the word shalom.

Cornelius Plantinga, theologian and author, describes shalom as this:

In the Bible, shalom means universal flourishing, wholeness and delight – a rich state of affairs in which natural needs are satisfied and natural gifts fruitfully employed, a state of affairs that inspires joyful wonder as its Creator and Saviour opens doors and welcomes the creatures in whom he delights. Shalom, in other words, is the way things ought to be.

(Not the Way It’s Supposed to Be: A Breviary of Sin, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1995, Wm. B. Eerdmans, page 10)

The underlying intent is that this wholeness (shalom) is given to us by God and can only be fully realized in relationship with him. True shalom is both an internal and external condition independent of circumstance. To be welcomed by our Creator is to experience a state of sheer contentment and peace with God, ourselves, and all of creation, as well as a deep knowing of God’s love.

As you can see, this is an overwhelming thought. It required two paragraphs of words to convey what the shalom of God is, and still it does not do it justice. It must be experienced to be understood. The concept of shalom is all-encompassing, literally taking one’s breath away when trying to imagine a life that is bursting with completeness and joy, living in the depth of understanding the delight of God over us.

When Jewish people used the word shalom as a greeting or a goodbye, it was also a blessing. But the blessing of peace over another person wasn’t merely that they hoped a sense of calm would prevail over another. They were bestowing God’s favor in the form of wholeness and restoration over the other person. To reiterate, shalom is a loaded word filled with the infinite goodness of God.

Whether or not we palpably feel the presence of God in a particular moment or season, we need to find a way, for our own well-being, to live in the firm belief that God