Spiritual Pathways

Brian and I have had a difficult time getting linked in to a corporate worship setting. One church we went too was so stuck in its ways that it was almost dead while the other church had people slain in the spirit for 2 and a half hours. Neither scenario is great for a newborn to attend nor her parents. So while it bothers me that our "church-goin-selves" don't have a place to plug into, I know that this will only last for a short season. Yet, its impermanence is no excuse for spirituality to take a hiatus. This is why I have recently used this time as a regrouping period.

Who am I? I am a friend, sister, daughter, mother to the most beautiful girl in the world, a military wife, and a lover of a most high God; what do I need to be doing to enrich those roles so I may continually strengthen those imperative relationships in my life? Typically, that last role permeates to the others - I'll start there.

Heartland Community Church (in Olathe, KS) had a sermon series a year or so ago pertaining to spiritual pathways. Based upon Gary Thomas' book, Sacred Pathways, pathways are personal traits that create a closer connection to God. They can be diverse and completely different from person to person - one can have many pathways and others may have only a few dominant pathways. It just depends.

Those pathways are:
Naturalist - draw near to God through nature
Sensate - draw near to God through senses
Traditionalist - draw near to God through ritual and symbol
Ascetics - draw near to God in solitude and simplicity
Activist - draw near to God by bringing about social change
Caregiver - draw near to God by caring for and serving others
Enthusiast - draw near to God through celebration and mystery
Contemplative - draw near to God through personal adoration and heartfelt devotion
Intellectual - draw near to God through the mind

For example: I took the spiritual pathway quiz and found that among my pathways to God, Intellectual is my most dominant. I feel closest to God when I read about Him, ponder Him and philosophize about Him. Whereas my sister would be categorized as more of an enthusiast in her pathway of understanding God. She likes experiencing and expressing herself to God through deep emotion. My mom would probably have a more contemplative pathway. When I was growing up, I would often wake to find her at the kitchen table with a Bible and journal in front of her. She felt close to God by experiencing quiet moments of prayer and reflection with Him. These women exemplify the diversity and importance of understanding how they personally relate to God. In knowing How to relate, they can then Act upon growing that relationship.

Why would one want to grow that relationship?
C.S. Lewis said in his book, Mere Christianity:

“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: “I’m ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic — on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg — or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”

And since I fall on the side of thinking that he is the Lord...the guy who said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life...." (John 14:6) I want to get to know Him better.

By the way, I am an Intellectual,
a Contemplative and an Ascetic....

To take the quiz to find out your spiritual pathway, click on this link:
Spiritual Pathways Quiz