Shift Six: Get Helpful Support Don’t Go It Alone!
The spiritual life is not a solo journey we are meant to walk alone. Spiritual guides, companions, mentors —these are all key part...
Understanding your spiritual journey is a key shift for your spiritual life, especially as you move into the second half.
Many Christians I encounter are surprised by the arrival of the second half of their spiritual life. That certainly was the case for me. Learning to think about the spiritual journey in terms of developmental stages was a significant shift toward developing a greater capacity to respond to God in my own life. Helping those I accompany in spiritual direction recognize these stages has become instrumental to their growth as well.
Looking back, it was the older women of the church who shared the biblical stories and basic Christian practices in the beginning of my spiritual formation. And, along with the wonderful stories, these sainted souls taught me (in ways my child’s mind could understand) that I should:
Beyond that, I intuited that “real” Christians helped out somehow… (anyhow, “every how”) around the church. In fact, the pinnacle of Christian spirituality might be best expressed through vocational ministry.
But I did not have a clue how any of those things would happen. So, I assumed that I must simply keep following these steps as I had been taught as a child. (Go to Church, give 10%, read the Bible, pray every day, be good, help in ministry, etc.) The idea of “developmental stages” did not occur to me at all.
If the words of the Gospel of Luke, “Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and favor with God and man.” (Lk 2:52) had sunk in, I may have realized that Jesus went through intellectual, physical, relational, and SPIRITUAL growth over time. Then it might have dawned on me that I might go through spiritual stages of growth too!
Yet it was decades before I eventually discovered that spiritual development also unfolds through somewhat predictable stages with certain observable realities, just like the physical, intellectual, emotional, and relational aspects of our lives. It wasn’t until I began formational training as a spiritual director that I was even exposed to the idea of “Stages of Faith.”
This way of understanding the spiritual life through developmental stages has been transformative for me, and the clients I accompany. I want to share it with you.
Quick attribution: Much of the content I am sharing on these spiritual stages can be found in The Critical Journey: Stages in the Life of Faith, by Robert A. Guelich & Janet O. Hagberg.
Janet and Bob start with some basic assumptions worth mentioning.
First, all stage models are models: Models are maps, not the territory. They are imperfect (but helpful) conceptualizations of the inner life.
Second, stages of faith are sequential, though not strictly linear. No one can skip or shortcut stages, though they may inhabit more than one stage at a time, return to earlier stages, or have a sense of circling through prior stages again.
Third, no stage is better than another. The spiritual life is a progressive journey. All stages are necessary and continue to contribute to your faith throughout your lifetime.
Fourth, one can get stuck at almost any stage. There are at least three things to consider here.
It turns out that each stage has certain identifying markers, characteristics, and corresponding developmental practices. Each stage benefits from a specific type of leadership. Each also has its own healthy growth patterns, common dangers, ways of getting stuck, and common pathologies that can emerge from being stuck. And, while you do not have to understand these realities completely, I’ve found that it does help to know how to respond, what to embrace, and what to resist.
A good way to begin consciously cultivating your own spiritual journey is through crafting what I call a spiritual timeline. So, let me invite you to reflect on your own spiritual life and journal about your major spiritual events, markers, and experiences. You could then draw them out on a timeline. That exercise alone may begin to give you some idea of how far you have come in God, the influences that have helped and hindered you along the way, and what your possible next steps might be.
In the Spirit Mind Body course, we explore each stage of faith development in detail to help you understand where you are and where God might be inviting you. I’d be honored to chat with you about your spiritual journey and let you decide if these resources could be helpful for you.
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