“Spiritual
Evolution”
Rev. Alison Longstaff, April 26, 2015
Bath Church of the New Jerusalem
Originally preached April 19, 2015, at Creekside New Church,
PA
Jeremiah 15:15–21, Matthew 16:21–28; HS 3603:3
Heavenly Secrets 3603:3 “During the first stage [of regeneration] nothing more than memory
is involved in knowing things in the Word and in knowing things of doctrine
about faith. During this stage we believe we are good because we know many things from the Word and from
doctrine, and are able to apply some of them not to our own life but to the lives of others.”(Emphasis mine) Emanuel Swedenborg
I am going to
talk about the stages of the spiritual journey through the lenses of James
Fowler, M. Scott Peck, and Emmanuel Swedenborg.
I hope I am going to illustrate how these stages are described in fine
detail in the Bible, and just how many resources there are available to us
already if we wish to understand this process better. Finally, I hope to assure you that this tool
is for personal use only. Analysis of
where someone else is on the inner
spiritual journey is none of your
business. To the extent that you use
this tool to compare yourself to others you need to put the tool down. Where
we are on the road is God’s business, and our only focus should be what our
next step is. Period. Applying truth to others (not ourselves) is a
sign of a very primitive version of spirituality.
In the realm of
psychology, scholars have been researching and mapping stages of development
since Jean Piaget began exploring children’s early cognitive development in the
1930s. He discovered that children were
not “dumb” or “wrong,” but that their perspective of reality was progressing
along a normative, measurable pathway.
For a child to move from a more simplistic world view to one more
sophisticated, it required “readiness,” and this happened of its own accord in
its right time.
In my Psych
undergrad at Bryn Athyn College I had the privilege of using some of
Piaget’s tests with the kindergarten children.
With birthdays spanning approximately a year from the oldest to the
youngest, these kids were just around the age where most of us commonly make
the transition from one stage to the next. During the test, some of the children answered
clearly with the earlier stage perspective; some clearly with the later stage
perspective. But I remember the one or
two student who would answer according to the first perception and then say,
“Wait…” and their brow would be furrowed, and I could see them wrestling with
the possibility that their answer might not be what they first expected. They were standing on the edge of readiness
to move into a more sophisticated way of viewing the world.
From my
perspective, each child was “right,” because each child was seeing reality in
an age-appropriate way. It wasn't for me to impose my “correct” world view upon
them or push them somewhere they were not ready to be. I was simply measuring
where they were. It was fascinating.
The concept of there
being normal developmental stages along which humans progress began to extend
into many areas of psychological research.
We now have Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages
of morality and James Fowler’s stages
of spirituality to guide us in our understanding of human development. I
did a double take when I learned that there is a whole academic discipline
called “The Psychology of Religion; I would have jumped disciplines right
then if I had been able to do so and stay as an ordination track student.
But think about
this. Psychologists have been mapping in increasingly fine detail what is required for a child to move from each stage of cognitive development to the next. We now have many specific, almost laser-pointed
therapies to aid children across developmental hurdles, thanks to decades of
research. The vast majority of us navigate these large developmental stages by
ourselves without needing support. But for
those children who need a bit of help we have ever more pointed strategies and
tools to help them along their educational and developmental paths.
Just imagine if
we could extrapolate this wisdom across disciplines to apply to human spiritual development. Imagine if we could map in finer and finer
detail what is required for each spiritual developmental leap such that
spiritual practitioners could, if it was appropriate and welcomed, apply
similar tools to aid the spiritual traveler across spiritual hurdles.
We do have one
map already.
It was Rev. Dr.
George Dole that introduced me to the idea that the Word of God—the Bible—isn't
just “full of correspondences.” He put
forward that the Bible, as disjointed and edited and pieced-together as it is,
contains the arc of our spiritual development from our spiritual awakening
until the moment we enter the spiritual Holy City. It took me awhile to comprehend how this
could be, but ever since, the idea has grown and grown on me. It works for me. You can take it how you
like.
The more I have
worked with this idea, the more it seems to me that the Bible is a manual full
of reassurances about the way we simply are.
Not only does God know we will lose our way, God has described the many
ways we will lose our way and the ways we will get back on track again and
again. The story of the Children of
Israel turning back in fear the first time they approach the Holy Land isn't there
so that we will know better and not do that too. It is there because that is what we do. All the elements in every story—every single
spy, not just Caleb and Joshua—make up each person’s inner reality. Sometimes a fearful turning back is what we
choose, rather than a courageous plunge forward. And so God lets us take another lap and try
again, like a horse that has balked at a jump, or a soloist that has missed her
entrance.
According to
Fowler and the Bible, we start out needing rules about how to “do religion
right.” At that stage we excel at noticing all the other people who are breaking the rules, while being astonishingly
blind to our own foibles. “Thank goodness I am not like all those critical,
judgmental people!”
But over the
course of our spiritual walk, as in the Biblical arc, we soften, and broaden,
and learn. After a lot of loss and
hardship, the message becomes gentler and more internalized. There is a new quality in the Greek
testament. Jesus tells us not to worry so much about the rules, but to look at
our hearts and intentions. As we move
more and more deeply into a genuine walk with a living God, we are stretched and opened to new avenues and
perspectives of wisdom. Yes, there is something inside each of us that cannot
stand this new openness, which participates in the crucifixion of the new
living Divine Human which has entered our story. But there is also within us the parts of us who
have remained as loyal as possible, and who experience the terrible loss. Even this new, living, breathing spirituality
needs to relinquish its earthly ties to fully mature. Jesus’ resurrection into
a fully spiritual life enables us to continue our walk on toward the Holy City,
where the gates are open in all directions and never close, to which all are
invited, and in which all the nations will be healed.
Step by step, with
cycles that seem to repeat and repeat the same lesson over and over, the Bible
describes every facet of every challenge we will face. We don’t need to see how. It just is in there. It describes the very
journey our Lord and Savior walked because He walked the same path we must so
that we never again need to walk it alone. Every step of every stage and
sub-stage of human regeneration in right there for us in the Holy Word, and we
are only just beginning to see how many ways it always has said what we have done, are doing, and are going to do,
no matter where we are on the path. It
is God with us in a more intimate way than we have ever imagined.
When I suggested
pursuing a doctorate taking Fowler’s and Peck’s and Swedenborg’s stages of
faith and working on producing a guide for pastors and spiritual leaders (that
could help them assess congregations and parishioners, so as to know what tools
or materials would be most meaningful and supportive to that stage) my adviser
got very nervous.
His primary
concern was that such a body of work would primarily be used to judge people
and box them into “stages” with some folks claiming a greater level of
“spiritual evolution” than others.
But superiority,
comparison, and judging are all markers of the earliest stages of the
journey. To the extent that you are
judging others, to that extent you are not very far into the loving phase of
growth. The higher angels wouldn't even
consider judging the souls they help, they would simply get down to serving
from use and love. They would help and
support with subtlety and respect, and with no sense of superiority.
The
psychometrists and psychologists who work with delayed children do not feel superiority
or contempt toward the children. It is
not even on the radar. The ones most
likely to feel contempt are the other kids who are the same age or a grade or
two ahead of the child in question. Just
be aware of that next time you are feeling judgmental—what does it say about
you? (Because judging is always about you anyway, not the one you are
judging.)
Finally, after
lots of personal work, one reaches a point where someone else’s location along
the spiritual trek is utterly irrelevant. The goal is service. The absolute
attitude is respect for the other’s spiritual well-being; and help is given in
relationship and with respect.
This topic has interested me a long time. I still might pursue finding
fine-honed tools for aiding individuals and congregations over spiritual
developmental hurdles.
Meanwhile I am developing a simplified lining up Fowler’s Stages of Faith alongside Scot
Pecks and Swedenborg’s. It is a
beginning exploration of the ways these different theories align. James Fowler’s Stages of Faith have
transformed my thinking. It has
explained a lot of things to me and given me a much gentler and more
compassionate lens through which to view all the different religious voices and energies
I encounter. Copies of this tool are
available from me. Just ask and I will email it to you.
Stay safe out there, and be kind to each other.
Amen
The
Readings
Genesis
12:1-4 (Holman Christian Standard)
The Lord said to Abram: Go out
from your land, your relatives, and your father’s house to the land that I will
show you. I will make you into a great
nation, I will bless you, I will make your name great, and you will be a
blessing. I will bless those who bless you, I will curse those who treat you
with contempt, and all the peoples on earth will be blessed through
you.
So Abram went, as the Lord had
told him.
Revelation
22 (portions, Living Bible blended with New
King James)
And he pointed out to me a river of pure
Water of Life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and the
Lamb, coursing down the center of the main street. On each side of
the river grew Trees of Life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh
crop each month; the leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations.
There shall be nothing in the city that is
evil; for the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants
will worship him. And they shall see his face; and his name shall be
written on their foreheads. And there will be no night there—no need for
lamps or sun—for the Lord God will be their light; and they shall reign forever
and ever.
Then the angel said to me, “These words are
trustworthy and true:
“Pay attention, I am coming quickly, and my
reward is with me, to give to everyone according to how he or she has given. I
am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and
Last.
The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ Let
each one who hears them say the same, ‘Come.’ Let the thirsty one come—anyone
who wants to; let that one come and drink the Water of Life freely.
“He who has said all these things declares:
Yes, I am coming quickly!”
Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen!
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