Wisdom from Brian Plachta
As we slowly move through the sacred season of Lent—praying, fasting, studying God’s Word, worshiping, and journeying toward celebrating our Savior’s resurrection—are we connecting with God as intimately as we can? Are we only focusing on our relationship with God intellectually, or are we opening ourselves up to also spending time with our Creator experientially through contemplative practices?
I recently had the blessing of spending over two hours with Brian Plachta, author of the book Finding Flow: Spiritual Practices to Reclaim Inner Peace, Balance, and Wholeness and the weekly email newsletter Simple Wisdom for Everyday Living. During our fluid conversation, Brian shared his transformative spiritual journey from an intellectual-only path to including experiential contemplative practices. He noted that these were practices Jesus followed, including “quiet time (meditation), spiritual reading, community, and using spiritual gifts,” highlighted below from Finding Flow and further explained in the book.
“Jesus is the one who lived this in his life and taught us to incorporate them,” said Brian. In his upcoming book Divine Flow, Brian will take readers on a historical journey “from Jesus through modern times,” showing how men, women, and the church have often integrated contemplative practices.
“If we look at the first Christian community, we’ll see they had these patterns, but once the church became institutionalized, we got back in our heads, and the experiential stuff got thrown out,” Brian explained.
Finding Flow Through Contemplative Spiritual Practices
Brian said about his one-on-one time with God, “I would say the most important part of my life that God has revealed to me over the last 30 years is quiet time. That meditation time is life-giving and one of my most sacred, most amazing spaces.”
Reflecting on the twists and turns in his life that shifted him from a busy career as a lawyer to that of a spiritual director and an author who prioritizes quiet time with God, Brian said with a chuckle, “God can use any of us, even lawyers, to help us grow.”
Balancing Intellectual and Experiential Faith
The door to a contemplative path was opened for Brian through a Dominican spiritual life center in his Grand Rapids, Michigan hometown. Upon learning about the experiential path with God, Brian thought, “Oh my, there’s so much more than just the intellectual.” However, he says the intellectual side of faith is also essential because of the foundation it provides.
“God is also inviting us to this experiential relationship, where we literally can hear the whisper of God in our own unique ways. We can hear the God nudges,” Brian stated. “And so I call this street-level spirituality that we can integrate the intellectual and the experiential and bring it down to practical tools like I did in the Finding Flow book.”
Contemplative Spiritual Practices for Mind, Body, and Spirit
Using tools and practices for grounding in the present moment, growing spiritually, and navigating life’s challenges, Brian stresses the importance of integrating certain practices into daily life for overall well-being. In addition to the necessary elements for physical wellness, such as nutrition and exercise, on pages 11 and 12 of Finding Flow, Brian lists:
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- Solitude: taking quiet time each day to connect with myself and God
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- Reading: studying the writings of others further along on the spiritual journey to discover the wisdom and guidance they offer
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- Community: Surrounding myself with people who inspire and nudge me to grow
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- Contemplative Action: doing the necessary inner work to discover my unique talents and gifts and then using them in life-giving ways for myself and others.
“The goal, I think,” said Brian,” is what St. Francis says. As we spend that time in contemplation, we become God’s prayer. And I’m not saying I’m there yet, but it’s that desire.”
Brian noted that although God provides the grace for our transformation, we have our parts to play in the inner work of our contemplative lives. With the experiential approach, we get to choose the ways we’d like to spend our quiet time with God. There are various styles of meditation, including sitting and focusing on what God may be communicating to us through the sights and sounds in nature, a meditative walk or other mindful movement, journaling, practicing gratitude, or whatever path will intentionally get us out of our heads and into the pure heart of God.
Experiencing the Divine Flow
Despite the change of spiritual rhythms from the early days to now, Brian believes “we’re moving back into that integration of the experiential—the contemplative with the intellectual—which is life-giving,” he reiterated. “And I think it’s the Holy Spirit; I really do believe that. It gives me hope,” he said.
“And even in the chaos of our world,” Brian continued, “welcome to 2000 years ago when Jesus was alive. It was chaotic, but also in this chaos, there is a divine order… Perhaps the Holy Spirit is inviting us back into that contemplative tradition. That makes sense.”
As a contemplative seeker of God, I hung onto this wisdom flowing from Brian. “Ah, I receive that,” I said to him. “I feel it. I need to pause and take a breath.” And so I did!
Join us on our Facebook page next week to hear more of Brian’s wisdom. Coming up, he’ll talk about topics such as Order, Disorder, and Reorder; Hurry Sickness; Experiential Learning and Science-based Tools; and Self-love and Shared Love. Please stay tuned!
