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The Four "A’s" of Grasping our Spiritual Journeys

In his brief apologetic for taking the Bible’s message seriously, Opening the Bible, Thomas Merton argues that God’s revelation comes to us through the life experiences of the Biblical patriarchs, prophets and people of God, and not primarily through doctrine or philosophical systems of thought:

First, we become aware that the Bible deals with events rather than with theories or ideas. A religious system can no doubt be built on the Bible. But the Bible message is communicated through happenings and is implied in the more or less explicit meaning of those happenings, for mankind, for the People of God, for us personally.

(Opening the Bible, pp. 74-75)

 

Merton is surely accurate in his statement, but he could have gone much further. The Biblical events are not treated in the Scriptures as isolated or self-contained realities, but rather are always linked to other events. A series of events with a common theme or purpose represents, of course, a spiritual journey. Our journeys, accordingly, provide the context by which events may be interpreted and grasped. This point is illustrated nicely by the above account of Saul’s conversion. The in-breaking of God’s revelatory power is said to take place within Saul’s journey to Damascus, and when the voice speaks to him, it asks him to explain his journey’s theme (persecution of the nascent Jewish-Christian community). The voice then calls him to embrace a new journey, which will be animated by an undisclosed new theme ("Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.").

Paul’s Damascus Road journey milestone is a fine example of how we should begin the process of grasping the significance and wisdom of our spiritual journeys. In Endless Possibilities, I detail how we may appreciate specific journeys (see pages 101-107). In this article, I want to paint the broad strokes of how to discover and learn about our spiritual journeys in general.

The First "A" - Awareness

The first step in entering into a journey-based form of spirituality is to become aware that our lives are actually a composite of numerous spiritual journeys. We discover that our existence is defined by our journeys and their themes, and not just by events in isolation from other events or actions.

How do we achieve this initial state of awareness? There needs to be some kind of inner transformation of the soul for awareness to flow into our consciousness. In Paul’s case, the transformation is initiated by God through grace and effects a conversion. The awareness is gifted to him by an external source (Jesus) and comes in the form of a question ("Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"). Paul in turn embraces the wisdom process by responding with another question ("Who are you, Lord?").

In short, then, we may conclude that awareness comes by God’s grace. This grace operates on two levels, corresponding to the theological categories of general and special (specific) revelation. On a general level, all humans have the innate capacity to perceive a logic and direction to their lives, for this ability is part of what it means for humans to be created in the image of God. For most people, however, the ability is severely under-developed, and thus operates on an unconscious level more than as a feature of conscious reflection. When it does manifest itself on a conscious level, this awareness may or not be connected specifically to faith in God. Even non-religious people often report a vague sense of being guided through life (through coincidental circumstances, for example). When this grace of awareness breaks into our lives in a more specifically spiritual form, we feel compelled to commit to its Giver through faith or gratefulness. We grasp that life is not coincidental but instead guided according to God’s wisdom, love and will. Since in Jesus all three exist in an eternal unity, Christians commit their lives to Him personally (as in Saul’s case above).

From a human perspective, the awareness that all of life is spiritual journey-based involves both an intellectual and intuitive leap of faith. This double leap can take place simultaneously. Saul’s experience – a crisis conversion – is fairly common. For others, though, this awareness emerges as a slower process. Sometimes, intuition precedes intellectual understanding, while for some the reverse is true. As I teach Endless Possibilities, it is fun for me to see different people break into awareness in these 3 different ways.

Once we have gained an awareness that our lives are made up of linked journeys, we can move on to the next task – analysis. Spiritual journey analysis consists of reflective inquiry into the structure of our journeys. Our journeys are composed of constituent parts in the same way that books are composed of chapters, or plays are composed of acts. In the Endless Possibilities model, there are 5 phases to each journey – preparation, call, cooperation, arrival and new life (for brief discussions of each stage, click this link). Each phase contains at least one milestone (a significant event which plays a key role on furthering a journey). Journeys are "held together" or find their cohesiveness through links between events. Links express the journey theme as it moves from event to event in our lives.

I cannot stress enough that the kind of analysis I am writing of here is not merely an academic or intellectual exercise. Recognizing a journey’s constituent parts enables us to affirm its progress through time, and thus is ultimately an integrative effort. Too often, whether it be in historical-critical analysis of the Bible’s books or in literary analysis of texts, analysis deconstructs the text to such an extent that its message and wisdom can no longer be discovered. Discovering the parts should not obscure the fact that the parts are part of the whole, and that it is this whole (in our case, the journey) that really counts.

Accordingly, I believe that we must be playful as we analyze our journey’s theme, phases, milestones and links. We do not break a journey into its constituent parts in order to deconstruct or criticize its reality, but rather to enjoy seeing how the constituent parts interact and relate to each other. We want to discover how the journey works, and to have fun with it in the process. This kind of spirit is illustrated in the creation story. When God reviewed the journey of creation, he was able to affirm (with no little satisfaction!) that "it was good" (Genesis 1:25).

Our playful tinkering with the phases of our journeys requires unremitting honesty and perception. Journeys do not automatically reveal their progress to us. We must come to the process with an open spirit and a level of courage that entertains all possibilities and interpretations, and with an indefatigable eagerness to find truth.

A truly open and playful analysis of our journeys creates the proper condition for something wonderful to emerge – a profound yet realistic appreciation of God’s presence in our lives. This is symbolized in Saul’s conversion by his discovery of Jesus’ name (Acts 9:5).

In classical Christian spirituality, the search for God’s immediate presence occurs within the context of prayer (both individual and corporate). Believers call out to God in both solitude and community, and the divine responds by consoling or challenging the heart. This kind of spiritual encounter stirs the soul and grants us the affirmation we need to continue the spiritual path toward the fullness of God’s love (which will only be completely experienced in heaven).

In the Endless Possibilities model of spirituality, prayer itself is spiritual journey-based (pp. 104-107). God’s presence, love and affirmation are found within, and not outside of, the journeys we embrace and fulfill.

God truly is present and reveals himself in and through the 5 phases of every spiritual journey. God’s love is lodged in the memories we cherish of his abiding faithfulness throughout our journeys. His presence timelessly resides in milestones that have been transformed into sacred signposts of God’s favor. As we learn to appreciate the significance of every journey event, we see God in action on our – and the world’s – behalf. This then is true love – that God is willing to journey toward us through Christ, and to journey with us as we respond to the divine purpose and call. In phase 1 (preparation), God’s presence and love is manifest in his initiative. He sets us up for journeys before we are aware of the call. In phase 2, the call to journey is surely a sign of God’s favor and grace, and the faith we gain so as to be able to embrace the call is a gift that endures forever. God’s guidance and gifting throughout phase 3 (cooperation) is necessary if we are to reach our journey goals, for we cannot journey without God. When we reach our journey goals (phase 4), our ability to see God’s presence in the journey is magnified, and our love (worship) for him grows as our appreciation of the journey (upon reflection) deepens. The expectation of future journeys in phase 5 creates a bond of hope between God and us which anticipates the soul’s entry into eternity.

Prayerful appreciation is not an easy art to master, but it offers a great reward. It unveils the hidden unity that underlies the diversity of the specifics of our journey experiences. This unity is relational to the core, for each journey event reflects the dynamics of our relationship with God. When prayerful appreciation becomes a facility of the soul (as well as a function of the mind), the final "A" may be experienced.

As we progress from awareness to analysis and then to appreciation, we correspondingly increase the mystical component of the spiritual exercise. Our ability to attend brings the mystical apprehension of our journeys to an even deeper dimension (I am indebted to Simone Weil for this insight and the term to describe it). When we attend to our journeys (a process of focusing one’s conscious reflection), the constituent parts (the phases) of our journeys fade from view and we perceive the totality of all of our journeys as a single or unitive reality (as a gestalt).

An elementary example of this is when we discover the recurring themes of our lives (see pages 103-104 in Endless Possibilities). A recurring theme unifies various journeys that differ in terms of specific events and time frame. Discovering a recurring theme adds meaning to one’s life on an order not available to those who simply understand the themes of individual journeys.

When the practice of attention is employed to combine the various recurring themes of our lives, the soul experiences a mystical peak experience which inspires profound awe and creates authentic humility in response to life’s mystery. When we grasp all of our journeys as a whole, we see an eternally inspired dance. The vision is not static; to the contrary, attention points to the dynamic flow of the journeys through time. Past, present and future journeys are seen as one - as if they all take place because of one breath of inspiration. The impression such a vision leaves the soul with is beauty; it is a work of art in the truest sense of the term. The response of the soul to such beauty is love and admiration.

Such a unitive journey vision is exceedingly difficult to obtain, and the good news for those unable to experience it is that attention is not necessary for achieving faithfulness in one’s individual journeys. The Endless Possibilities model may be mystical, but one does not have to be a mystic in order to fulfill God’s will. I do not have to understand the physics of flight to enjoy a flight on an airplane that relies on those principles.

Copyright (c) 2000 by Rev. Dr. Lee B. Spitzer.  All rights reserved.  This article may be distributed for private use only.

For a description of the journey phases referred to in this devotion, go to the Journey Phases page.  Earlier articles can be accessed by clicking the buttons on the left.  

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