Appendix 10

Purgation is the stage of growing awareness of sins, blindness and the life of the false self. In this stage, desire to bring behavior and attitudes into line with Christ’s behavior and attitudes calls forth confession. Patterns of willful disobedience, rationalization, denial, blame, addiction, compulsion and weakness are renounced. Disciples intentionally partner with the Holy Spirit in willing trust and obedience.

Illumination is the stage where being in love with God gives rise to the desire to live totally in and for God’s glory. Prayer becomes a way of life. It is the lived and regular rhythm of attending to the presence of the Holy Spirit within. Illumination finds evidence of God in pain and sorrow as well as joy and peace. Social concern and contemplation both become ways of adoring God.

Union is the stage characterized by receiving God’s gift of union and oneness. “Spiritual marriage,” “transforming union,” “ecstasy,” “the unitive way” and “contemplation” are all terms that attempt to capture the soul’s relationship to God in this stage. The union stage is a receptive, quiet place where God’s agenda, presence and will are embraced. And prayer is a way of entering into wordless communion with the divine. All need for human approval, reinforcement or success is lost in surrender to Christ and an abandonment to grace.

The language of these stages may be unfamiliar to many who have no trouble distinguishing between baby Christians, disciplined followers, responsible shepherds and seasoned saints. For a visual of the seasons and stages of spiritual growth, read through the chart on pages 288-89. The divisions integrate the cyclical seasons with the trajectory toward spiritual maturity of a seasoned saint. The seasons and stages found here roughly correspond to stages developed in The Critical Journey by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich.

There is no ironclad rule about what disciplines work best and when. Still, every age and stage is characterized by something to know, be and do.

Every age can grow in knowing about the faith they confess. The gospel is a deep river of life, and the depths can’t be sounded. But you can dive more deeply into its depths and learn.

No matter how old or young you are, there are things you can learn to do as a disciple of Jesus. Apprenticing yourself to Jesus will lead you into offering your body to God in worship, obedience and love. It is something we do.

Doing comes out of being. And at any age we can grow into what it means to be personally related to Jesus in vital, life-altering ways.

A simple age breakdown might look like this:

Spiritual disciplines weave their way throughout all of life. New Christians often profit from spiritual disciplines that provide information about God and the Christian faith. Disciplines like Bible study, small groups and conversational prayer invite them to make space in their lives to hear God’s word, share their stories and pray. When the new Christians are children, spiritual practices focus on their love of stories, music, celebration, teachability and the ease with which they learn and memorize. Bible stories readily shape their moral imagination. Music and celebration lead them into experiencing God in worship. Disciplines of relinquishment usually are not appropriate for young people because they have not yet discovered the self they have to give away.

It’s important to provide young people with disciplines that link self-discovery with discovery of God. Since they often take cues about who they are from others, it is important to link them with a community that authentically shares their journey together. Typically, adolescents don’t want to miss out on anything in life—and often their temptations revolve around a fear of missing out on something. Disciplines that lead them into experiences of presenting their bodies to God as their spiritual act of worship (Romans 12:1) are particularly appropriate.

As responsibilities for both older and younger generations bear down on disciples in midlife, practices that address the temptation to be materialistic, anxious and controlling promote growing authenticity, wholeness, healing and discernment. Disciplines like the examen, devotional reading and slowing intentionally open the heart to hearing a fresh word from God.

Spiritual practices like detachment, contemplation and unplugging address the busyness, compulsions and scatteredness of life.

Seasoned saints might find that disciplines like mentoring, discipling and intercession intentionally provide opportunities to share their lives and come close to God in prayer. Mature disciples leave a legacy and an example of what it is to keep company with Jesus. They also model well the disciplines of relinquishment. They practice detachment because they know it will prepare them for the end of life and the final letting go.

Remember that each letter of the acronym worship contains spiritual practices suitable for every age and stage of growth. Choosing disciplines from more than one grouping keeps us developing in wholeness and holiness. In some seasons of the journey we don’t look entirely balanced. We shouldn’t worry much about this. Instead, we trust that the spiritual disciplines we practice will root us in the soil of God’s love. In the Trinity’s good timing, we may well find ourselves attracted to disciplines that never appealed to us before.

Besides ages, stages and seasons of growth affecting the spiritual marathon, life circumstances play their own part. Illness, job changes, moving, weddings, vacations, work, caring for children or elderly parents, divorce, accidents, deaths—these are just a few of the many life circumstances that affect our ability to meaningfully engage and practice spiritual disciplines. It is important to consider the limitations as well as the opportunities that life circumstances bring.

Spiritual disciplines must be adapted to fit the reality of the life we are living. A person with a houseful of noisy children may long for solitude! But the realities of such a life takes him or her more deeply into disciplines of incarnating God’s love for others. Disciplines he or she can share with the children—care of the earth, hospitality, walking prayer or service—can be especially meaningful at this time. We must attend to what’s on our plate and not put emotional energy into wishing for a solitude that will definitely come. If the longing for solitude persists, we should ask God how to find time each week when someone else is in charge of the homefront while we spend time alone with him. Maybe it’s just an hour alone in the bathtub.

As I encourage people in the practice of spiritual disciplines, I find it intriguing to see how people with different life circumstances respond. Circumstances matter when it comes to disciplines. The grandmother living alone doesn’t really warm to the discipline of solitude; she has all she needs. But the busy CEO finds solitude a breath of fresh air. A mother of young children finds breath prayer suits her busy day, while a doctor seeking discernment on a new responsibility embraces the examen. I have found that my disciplines shift when I am on vacation, sick or traveling for work and when I have guests that stay for extended lengths of time. The more I attend to what God wants of me in these circumstances, the clearer I am on the practices that suit the situation. Disciplines are fluid; they flow in and out of our circumstances.

Ages, stages, seasons and circumstances always affect our relationship with God. So we should expect the journey to take us into new ways of noticing and attending to the divine romance.