The Nearness
Letters on the Treasure of God's Company in an Ordinary Life
Available Formats
Free Companion Resource: An 8-week study guide for individuals and small groups. Download at nearnessbook.com →
ISBN: 978-1-971776-17-0 (Paperback) · 978-1-971776-18-7 (Hardcover) · 978-1-971776-19-4 (eBook)
"But as for me, the nearness of God is my good." — Psalm 73:28
The Nearness is a series of fourteen letters, written by a father to his daughter, on the daily nearness of God. Its claim is simple and staggering: God's company is not a reward earned by the spiritually gifted. It is a gift already given in Christ — available in the middle of an ordinary, distracted life, to people with jobs and laundry and phones that will not stop.
The letters teach a practice the book calls the Godward Turn — turning one's attention, not one's body, toward God through the day, anchored by "a time and a chair," and returning without self-contempt after drifting. They walk through the mercy-order of God, who feeds the failed before He examines them; through wintering, the dry seasons when no warmth is felt and the Presence remains a residence rather than a visitation; and through the company of the friends of God across the centuries — Brother Lawrence, Gerhard Tersteegen, Augustine, Robert Murray McCheyne, and Walter Beuttler — ordinary people who found that He is nearer than they dared believe.
Written in the warm, direct register of a parent's letters rather than a theology text, The Nearness is for the believer who has concluded, quietly, that the deeper life with God must belong to someone else. It is 142 pages of evidence that it does not.
Learn more: Read the Opening Letter free at nearnessbook.com, where the 8-week study guide is also available.
About Jarred Fenlason
Jarred Fenlason, D.Min., writes on spiritual formation, discipleship, and the deeper life with God. He holds a Doctor of Ministry from United Theological Seminary, an MA in Christian Leadership from Liberty University, and has trained pastors and ministry leaders across multiple countries.
