1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Life. Most of us carry parts of our lives that 2 00:00:07,840 --> 00:00:11,360 Speaker 1: feel unfinished. Dreams that didn't unfold the way we imagined, 3 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:15,360 Speaker 1: work that never quite came together, or inner places that 4 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,720 Speaker 1: still feel in process. We often assume those places mean 5 00:00:19,960 --> 00:00:23,439 Speaker 1: something went wrong. But what if the unfinished parts of 6 00:00:23,440 --> 00:00:26,960 Speaker 1: your life are not problems to solve or failures to explain, 7 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:31,560 Speaker 1: but something to be received with reverence. Hi friends, I'm 8 00:00:31,680 --> 00:00:35,200 Speaker 1: Jem Faddling and this is the Unhurried Living podcast where 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: we inspire you to rest deeper, live fuller, and lead better. 10 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:41,760 Speaker 1: Today I want to offer a different way of seeing 11 00:00:41,880 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: what remains incomplete. After a word from our sponsor, will 12 00:00:46,760 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: dive into our conversation for today. A few years ago, 13 00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: on my first trip to Italy with my husband, we 14 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:05,640 Speaker 1: visited the Academia Gallery in Florence. We were tired, deeply 15 00:01:05,760 --> 00:01:08,600 Speaker 1: jet lagged, and honestly questioning whether it was wise to 16 00:01:08,640 --> 00:01:11,919 Speaker 1: walk across the city that day, but we were determined 17 00:01:11,959 --> 00:01:15,520 Speaker 1: because we had one clear goal in mind. We wanted 18 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:19,560 Speaker 1: to see Michelangelo's David. Like so many people, I had 19 00:01:19,600 --> 00:01:23,759 Speaker 1: seen photos of David countless times, but standing in that space, 20 00:01:23,880 --> 00:01:28,080 Speaker 1: with the scale and beauty of the sculpture towering above us. Well, 21 00:01:28,120 --> 00:01:31,360 Speaker 1: it was breathtaking. It's one of those moments where art 22 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:36,040 Speaker 1: stops being an object and becomes an experience. Yet what 23 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:39,120 Speaker 1: surprised me most that day wasn't David, and it was 24 00:01:39,440 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: in the room right next door. Just before you enter 25 00:01:42,760 --> 00:01:45,200 Speaker 1: the room where David stands, there's a gallery lined with 26 00:01:45,280 --> 00:01:49,480 Speaker 1: several large marble pedestals. On them are sculptures that are 27 00:01:49,520 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: clearly unfinished. Michelangelo had been commissioned to create an enormous, 28 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: three story, free standing tomb with more than forty figures. 29 00:01:58,280 --> 00:02:01,040 Speaker 1: It was an ambitious vision, but over the forty years 30 00:02:01,040 --> 00:02:04,760 Speaker 1: he remained connected to the project, the scope kept changing, 31 00:02:05,280 --> 00:02:10,360 Speaker 1: Other commissions intervened, and, most notably the Sistine Chapel, consumed 32 00:02:10,520 --> 00:02:14,359 Speaker 1: years of his life and creative energy. Eventually, the tomb 33 00:02:14,400 --> 00:02:16,800 Speaker 1: was completed, but it was only a fraction of what 34 00:02:16,919 --> 00:02:21,800 Speaker 1: Michelangelo had originally imagined. The sculptures that never made it 35 00:02:21,880 --> 00:02:25,440 Speaker 1: onto the tomb now stand in that room beside David, 36 00:02:25,639 --> 00:02:29,239 Speaker 1: and they are known as the Prisoners. Half marble block, 37 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:32,560 Speaker 1: half human form. They appear as though figures are emerging 38 00:02:32,600 --> 00:02:36,120 Speaker 1: from stone, or perhaps still trapped within it. You can 39 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:42,000 Speaker 1: see muscles, straining faces, partially revealed bodies twisting toward freedom, 40 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:47,600 Speaker 1: yet never fully released. They are unfinished, Yet somehow, over 41 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: time they weren't discarded, they weren't hidden away, and they 42 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: were not labeled as failures. They're displayed in one of 43 00:02:55,720 --> 00:02:58,880 Speaker 1: the most famous museums in the world, and they are 44 00:02:58,919 --> 00:03:04,520 Speaker 1: considered art. Well. That really struck me that even half 45 00:03:04,800 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 1: finished Michelangelo's are worth beholding, and it raised questions I 46 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:14,880 Speaker 1: couldn't shake, questions that feel deeply relevant to our inner lives. 47 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: Can I love every part of my own formation process, 48 00:03:19,320 --> 00:03:22,800 Speaker 1: even when what I dreamed didn't come to complete fruition? 49 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:27,680 Speaker 1: Can I accept my unfinished attempts to create something beautiful? 50 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: Most of us begin our lives, our vocations, and maybe 51 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,440 Speaker 1: even our spiritual journeys, with at least a stab at 52 00:03:34,440 --> 00:03:37,600 Speaker 1: a vision of how things are supposed to unfold. We 53 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: imagine the fulfilled calling, a more healed version of ourselves, 54 00:03:42,800 --> 00:03:49,760 Speaker 1: or important work relationships restored. But life rarely cooperates with 55 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:59,480 Speaker 1: our original plans. Circumstances change, health shifts, responsibilities increase, opportunities disappear, 56 00:04:00,320 --> 00:04:05,280 Speaker 1: doors closed that we assumed would remain open. Some things 57 00:04:05,280 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: get completed and others don't. And often the end result 58 00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: isn't what we thought it would be. We tend to 59 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:16,200 Speaker 1: interpret that as loss or disappointment, or even failure. But 60 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: what if the unfinished parts of your life are not 61 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:23,159 Speaker 1: evidence that you've missed the point. What if they're simply 62 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,359 Speaker 1: part of the process, Like Michelangelo's prisoners. What if the 63 00:04:27,520 --> 00:04:32,279 Speaker 1: unfinished places are not mistakes but necessary steps in the becoming. 64 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,800 Speaker 1: This metaphor might be helpful for work projects, creative endeavors, 65 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:40,400 Speaker 1: vocational paths, but I think it's even more important when 66 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:44,520 Speaker 1: we apply it to our inner formation. Spiritual growth doesn't 67 00:04:44,520 --> 00:04:48,440 Speaker 1: happen in straight lines, healing is not tidy, and maturity 68 00:04:49,200 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 1: unfold slowly and unevenly. These are insights we glimpse but 69 00:04:55,720 --> 00:05:00,040 Speaker 1: we don't fully live into yet, Patterns we recognize but 70 00:05:00,200 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: haven't completely transformed. And maybe practices we begin but don't sustain. 71 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:11,839 Speaker 1: And still God is present. Michaelangelo's unfinished sculptures stand in 72 00:05:11,880 --> 00:05:14,640 Speaker 1: the room right next to one of his greatest achievements. 73 00:05:15,360 --> 00:05:19,359 Speaker 1: The museum does not separate them into success and failure. 74 00:05:19,880 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: All of it is considered art, all of it is protected, 75 00:05:24,080 --> 00:05:27,479 Speaker 1: and all of it is cherished. We can have this 76 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:31,640 Speaker 1: posture toward our own lives. In light of this, let's 77 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:37,200 Speaker 1: try on three ways to engage this new posture. First, 78 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:42,320 Speaker 1: name what feels unfinished in your life without judging it. 79 00:05:42,760 --> 00:05:45,479 Speaker 1: Take the time to gently name the areas of your 80 00:05:45,560 --> 00:05:48,160 Speaker 1: life that feel incomplete, not to fix them, and not 81 00:05:48,200 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 1: to criticize yourself, but simply to acknowledge them with honesty 82 00:05:51,839 --> 00:05:55,040 Speaker 1: and compassion. Hold space for what is and see it 83 00:05:55,080 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: with eyes of compassion. Number two, reverent curiosity instead of 84 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,960 Speaker 1: self criticism, you could ask yourself what's been forming in 85 00:06:06,000 --> 00:06:09,200 Speaker 1: me through this unfinished place? Rather than why didn't I 86 00:06:09,240 --> 00:06:13,640 Speaker 1: do this better? Curiosity opens space for grace. We are 87 00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:17,560 Speaker 1: always being transformed, there is always room for more growth, 88 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:21,480 Speaker 1: and in some ways we're always unfinished, so we can 89 00:06:21,560 --> 00:06:25,520 Speaker 1: move toward accepting this as a beautiful part of life's process. 90 00:06:26,520 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: Number three, Receive love where you are, as you are, 91 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:34,520 Speaker 1: not where you hope to be. God's love is not 92 00:06:34,560 --> 00:06:38,200 Speaker 1: waiting for the finished version of you. You can practice 93 00:06:38,200 --> 00:06:42,480 Speaker 1: receiving God's love in your current form, unfinished edges, and 94 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:46,240 Speaker 1: all that's all we can do anyway is to receive 95 00:06:46,760 --> 00:06:53,320 Speaker 1: the unfathomable love of God now as we are well 96 00:06:53,320 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: the unfinished parts of your life are not wasted, they're 97 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:01,040 Speaker 1: not embarrassing, and again they're not failure. They may be 98 00:07:01,160 --> 00:07:04,320 Speaker 1: some of the most honest, wholly informative places of all. 99 00:07:05,480 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: So may you learn to see your life the way 100 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 1: that gallery in Florence invites us to see Michelangelo's work, 101 00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:16,880 Speaker 1: not only celebrating what is complete, but also honoring what isn't. 102 00:07:18,120 --> 00:07:22,280 Speaker 1: Blessings to you as you make your way. Thank you 103 00:07:22,320 --> 00:07:24,840 Speaker 1: for joining me on the Unheard Living podcast. You can 104 00:07:24,880 --> 00:07:28,040 Speaker 1: download free resources and learn more about us at Unhurried 105 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: Living dot com, and please subscribe and share this podcast 106 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:33,960 Speaker 1: with your friends and colleagues. We'd also like to thank 107 00:07:34,000 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: our partner Life Audio. Check out their other faith centered 108 00:07:36,880 --> 00:07:40,360 Speaker 1: podcasts at lifeaudio dot com. Blessings to you as you 109 00:07:40,400 --> 00:07:41,000 Speaker 1: make your way.