Part three looks at models or paths of spiritual formation. After a description of each, I will reflect briefly and offer a few more guiding questions for your own reflection.
Contemplative Spirituality: A Shalem Senior Staff Monograph
Written by Carole Crumley, Bill Dietrich, Ann Kline, and Gerald May
March 2004
“People express their spirituality, their fundamental loves, in a variety of ways. For example, an ancient understanding in both western and eastern thought says that spirituality expresses itself in the three main ways of knowing, acting and feeling. Christian philosophy associates these ways with attributes of God. God is ultimate Truth, Goodness, and Beauty, and these qualities of the Divine draw people along the Way of the True, the Way of the Good, and the Way of the Beautiful. Each of the ways find some expression in everyone, but at any given time an individual is likely to be more attracted to one than to the others.
Each of these ways can be an authentic express of love. The Way of the True, for example, seeks to deepen love through understanding: “…and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free” (John 8:32). For people drawn toward this quality, loving God and neighbor involves intimate knowing and clear understanding. They are interested in theology, philosophy, and psychology. They enjoy thought-provoking sermons and are interested in discerning the accurate meanings of scripture. While this path often relies heavily on intellectual understanding, it also includes openness to intuitive insight and inspired realization.
The Way of the Good expresses love through action, doing the righteous thing, seeking to be of service and to promote justice: “just as you did it to the least of these…you did it to me” (Matt 25:40). People attracted to this quality express their love of God and neighbor by helping the poor, visiting the sick, peacemaking and social action. They have a strong concern for morality, though they may differ widely in the values they hold. In church they are drawn to mission groups and other volunteer services. In scripture, they tend to look for moral guidelines and calls to action.
The Way of the Beautiful experiences love in the form of feelings and devotion: “As a deer longs for running streams, so my soul longs for you, O God” (Ps 42:1). People drawn to this way of especially responsive to the sensory and emotional dimensions of the spiritual life. For them, love of God and neighbor is associated with passion, empathy and intimacy. They are concerned with direct, sensed experience of relationship with God and others and are drawn to praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. They especially appreciate the aesthetic and inspirational aspects of worship and the moving, heartfelt passages of scripture.
It is assumed that as a person grows in the spiritual life, these paths come together in an integrated whole. Even then, though, a person is likely to be more drawn to one way than to the others. Furter, the expressions of a person’s love are likely to change with deepening life experience. One way of understanding the process of growth in love was proposed by the twelfth-century monk Bernard of Clairvaux.
According to Bernard, many people being with the “Love of Self for One’s Own Sake.” Here we try to overcome problems and gain satisfaction in life through our own efforts. Benard maintains that sooner or later we find this doesn’t work. We are unable to control things enough to get what we want and avoid what we don’t want.
This leads most people into the second phase, which Bernard calls the “Love of God for One’s Own Sake.” Recognizing that we cannot manage life on our own, we turn toward the Divine for help. For many people, this marks the beginning of a conscious, intentional spiritual life. Bearnard maintains that one way or another, our prayers for help are answered. It may not happen in the way we expect, but we do recognize God’s grace active in our lives. Then, Bernard says, at some point our focus shifts from the gifts we are receiving to the Giver of the gifts.
Our love becomes more for God’s self than for what God can do for us. This is the third phase, “The Love of God for God’s Sake.” Finally in Bernard’s thinking this love births a new and profound realization. Deeply impressed with God’s goodness and deeply feeling the flow of love, people may begin to recognize how essentially good and loveable they themselves are. This is the beginning of Bernard’s fourth phase: “Love of One’s Self for God’s Sake.” One begins to see one’s own being with fresh eyes, revealing a new beauty and worthiness.
Not everyone experiences the spiritual life as Bernard described it, nor can everyone locate themselves clearly among the three classical paths. If there is a “one right way” for a given individual, it is a matter of God’s unique guidance in that person’s soul. It cannot be prescribed by referring to a model of spiritual growth. Sill, such models can lend a certain clarity to the process of the spiritual life and, more important, affirm that a variety of experiences and attitudes can be authentic.
Further, although most spiritual models seem to indicate a stepwise progression, people’s actual experience is far less linear. “Beginners” frequently have experiences of later stages, and “advanced” people often experiences the early stages. “No one,” say Teresa of Avila, “is so advanced in prayer that they do not often have to return to the beginning.”
While models can be constricting, they are helpful in giving form to something hard to explain like spiritual formation. I appreciate both models presented here for the movement and transformation they describe. My heart resonates most strongly with the truth and beauty paths. They feel like mother languages to me and offer the clearest more accessible connection to the Divine. This is probably why I love worship and books so much. The greater Body of Christ has taught me about the path of righteous action, and I have come to see how each of the three paths nourish the others.
Benard’s model is a little less clear for me. I am inspired by the movement from being self-centered to God-centered and am moved by the idea of loving oneself for God’s sake. Seeing myself, others, and creation as God sees them is something I have glimpsed and would like to grow in. It reminds me of how spending time outdoors and serving unsheltered people have nurtured this type of seeing within me.
What about you? Does one or more of the classical spiritual paths (truth, goodness, or beauty) resonate with you? How has this informed your spiritual journey?
Which do you recognize in our congregation? How do they inform our congregational life?
Does the movement Bernard described from being self-centered to God-centered resonate with your experience? How? What situations and/or experiences does it make you think of?
Peace,
Pastor Karsten
