NILS VON KALM reads Alan Fadling’s ‘A Non-Anxious Life’…
Alan Fadling
A Non-Anxious Life: Experiencing the Peace of God’s Presence
IVP, US, 2024
ISBN-13: 978-1514000502
Sometimes you start reading a book about something that is close to your heart and you are mixed with both hope and a little scepticism. Is this book going to fulfil my hopes for it? Will it help me in my struggle with what the book is about?
“What makes this book especially appealing is that it is so personal. This is no theoretical treatise on how to deal with a disorder that afflicts many millions of people on the planet. This is a personal story interspersed with the wisdom that has been gained through walking through the pain and turmoil that anxiety can bring, and often out the other side into the peace of God that transcends all understanding.”
Alan Fadling’s latest book, A Non-Anxious Life: Experiencing The Peace Of God’s Presence, fulfilled the hopes I had for it. As I listened to the audio version of it, the thought crossed my mind more than once that “this is good” and I found myself more than once saying “yes!” out loud at particular points the author was making.
I have struggled with anxiety all my life, and Fadling shows in this book that he gets it. I felt heard and could resonate not only with his experience of anxiety, but also with his thoughts on the best ways to deal with it.
What makes this book especially appealing is that it is so personal. This is no theoretical treatise on how to deal with a disorder that afflicts many millions of people on the planet. This is a personal story interspersed with the wisdom that has been gained through walking through the pain and turmoil that anxiety can bring, and often out the other side into the peace of God that transcends all understanding.
Fadling starts the book by referring to himself as a master of anxiety who is working towards becoming a master of peace. He then goes on to describe the experience of anxiety from his point of view through telling stories and giving real, heartfelt testimony to the power of the Holy Spirit yielding the fruit of peace in his life.
I have found that many books on Christian living are just not real enough to be relevant to the average reader. That has especially been the case for me when the reader has direct personal experience of the topic being covered in the book. This is why I gained instant respect for Fadling as his story and the way he tells it abounds in the reality and struggle of his lived experience.
Anxiety is an epidemic in Western societies in particular. The British author and researcher, Johann Hari, says that in countries like Australia, anxiety is literally off the charts. It is an epidemic that medication can ease but not cure. Referring to the US context in his book, Fadling states that, “a study by the National Institutes of Health indicates that anxiety steadily increased in the adult population from 2008 to 2018. In that same time frame, anxiety doubled among eighteen- to twenty-five-year-old young adults. But in the first year of the pandemic, the World Health Organization measured a 25 percent increase in anxiety and depression worldwide.”
These figures could equally apply to countries across the Western world. My experience has been that anxiety is definitely rising, and it is especially the case with young people.
Probably the first aspect of this book that impressed me was the fact that Fadling describes the peace that can replace anxiety as not being dependent on circumstances. That was enormously encouraging for me. It reminded me of when St Paul says in Philippians 4:11 that he has learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what he means by that because that has been my experience too.
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In the year before my parents’ marriage ended back when I was 16, they would argue with each other every day. In the midst of that enormous tension and constant conflict in my home, I could honestly say, like St Paul, that I had learned to be content. The joy I had was certainly not dependent on my home circumstances. And it was deeper than any form of happiness that we experience.
This is the type of peace that Fadling refers to when he talks about being on the journey to being a master of it. And the encouraging premise of his book is that this peace is available to anyone.
Far too many churches promote an overly simplistic ‘solution’ to anxiety. These non-solutions can easily guilt people into believing that if only you prayed more, spent more time in the word and trusted God more to ease your worries, then constant peace could be yours. There is certainly an element of trusting in God that does ease anxiety, but it’s just not that simple. Most people, including those claiming to be Christian, can’t just turn off worry and turn on peace.
Fadling shows in this book that he understands this. And as someone who speaks with the authority that only comes out of decades of experience, A Non-Anxious Life is a book I highly recommend.