Paul W. Arndt - Blog and Updates

The Receptive Life

Now that I'm 60, I thought it might be good to gather all that I have learned about The Receptive Life in one place.

I have been thinking about, working on, and refining The Receptive Life material for almost 40 years. I have lived it first, and then taught and shared what I discovered along the way.

As the African proverb says, "When an old man dies, a library burns to the ground."

The Book: The Receptive Life - Finding the Soul's Sacred Rest in a Spiritually Exhausted World

After four decades of living with this material, I'm writing a comprehensive book that will serve as both a spiritual travelogue and practical field guide.

The Receptive Life will include:

  • Part I: Spiritual Travelogue. This is the story behind the story. It includes personal reflections, struggles, missteps, wanderings, unintended detours, hard won insights about my journey through the territory of oratio, meditatio, and tentatio. It’s also an account of my own cruci-formation as a Christian and a pastor. If you enjoy walking the territory with a guide who has some stories to tell, you might enjoy this section.

  • Part II: Spiritual Reflections and Meditations These are sacred pauses and rest stops along the way. This section is more devotional in tone and provides opportunities for you to reflect on each station of The Receptive Life journey. If you want a slower walk through the territory, you can linger here.

  • Part III: A Spiritual Field Guide. This is the most practical and straightforward path. It offers a structured, intentional, and repeatable step-by-step journey through the thirteen (13) stations of The Receptive Life. The end goal of this section is to consistently have you go and return to all of the places that the Triune God has promised to do His work and give His gifts. If you want the basics, start here.

Some Advanced Readers

I'm looking for a select group of readers who are experiencing spiritual exhaustion and longing for sacred rest to review early drafts and provide feedback.

As an advanced reader, you'll:

  • Receive chapters as they're completed
  • Help shape the final book through your insights
  • Meet others who are on the same journey

I've created a private community on Circle (a secure platform) where advanced readers can interact with each other and provide feedback as chapters are completed.

To join, go to my ... invitation link.

Already a member?

You can sign in here.

A Summary of The Receptive Life

Lord God, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.


(St. Augustine, Confessions, Book I)


The Receptive Life® is an invitation for all of us who have, as St. Augustine confesses, "an unquiet heart". It is for those of us whose souls are restless, whose consciences are troubled, and for those who long for a sacred rest, but can never seem to find it.

The truth is ... we haven’t found that rest because we have been seeking it through our own effort, discipline, and never ending striving. What we haven’t yet realized is this:

the soul’s sacred rest doesn’t come by achieving—it comes in receiving.


It’s not earned. It’s given.

And only the Triune God can give it.

The Receptive Life® is a uniquely Lutheran spiritual formation resource and devotional that helps weary believers return—daily and intentionally—to the places where God has promised to give His gifts. It is rooted in Scripture, anchored in the Divine Service, and framed by the chief parts of Luther’s Catechisms.

Through this resource you will learn how to make use of the person and work of Jesus Christ so that you can …

  • fight against the "unholy trinity" (the devil, the world, and the sinful flesh);
  • defend yourself with all of the promises of Jesus;
  • and receive all of the gifts of Jesus.

I invite you to leave behind … the “quiet times” that do nothing to quiet the heart and the spiritual checklists that leave no mark on the soul.

I invite you to discover (or rediscover) … how the Word of God is “living and active” and that the Triune God does His work through the Word—in the Scriptures, incarnate in Jesus, and in, with and under the Sacraments.

I invite you to walk … in the footsteps of the prophets, the apostles, and the Church universal and ancient and join with them in the rhythm of the receptive life:

repent, receive, rejoice (and repeat).

I invite you to live ... The Receptive Life.

You can explore The Receptive Life website and all of the video and print resources at ...

It is my prayer, that as you work your way through these resources, your soul will finally be able to find its sacred rest—not by achieving, but in receiving all of the gifts that only the Triune God can give.

At 60, I'm even more convinced that our restless hearts will only find their sacred rest in the person and work of Jesus Christ. I'll do my best to not let that gift and storehouse of knowledge burn to the ground.

Thanks for your help.

Come what may, we do belong to Jesus!
2025-06-28 13:55