7 Stages of the Journey

  Well, it happened again, I saw myself in someone else's research.  Actually, I saw everybody in this work; it's a chart that was adapted from The Critical Journey by Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich.  This chart displays seven stages of faith and the characteristics of each stage and how we move from each level to the next. 
  Stage One, of course, is Recognition of God- "we believe".
  Stage Two is Discipleship, in which we are learning about God.
  Stage Three is the Productive life, or doing things FOR God.  This is where I invested most of my adult life in service to the Lord, while functioning within the church environment.
  Before the next stage comes the Wall, a phenomenon that I hadn't realized existed until I experienced it.  I had often heard of "the Dark Night of the Soul" and "the Desert Experience" as encounters that believers routinely have, but I had not realized that the Wall is a common reality.  This is the stage where "things just aren't working anymore".  Getting through the Wall often involves discomfort, surrender, healing, awareness, forgiveness, risk, acceptance, love, closeness to God, discernment, melting, molding, solitude & reflection (Whew!)  I've been through much of that in the last two years and have moved on to the later stages:
  Stage Four is the Journey Inward, which is characterized by loss of certainty, life or faith crisis, a search for new direction.  "We need to figure out a new way to do this relationship with God & others."  I'm there now.
  Stage Five is the Journey Outward, learning to live out of a totally different place.  I'm there now too.
  The Final Stage is the Life of Love, "it's all about God"-- characterized by "living in obedience to God, wisdom gained from life's struggles, compassionate living for others, detachment from things and stress, life abandoned."  I am partially here as well.


  This work helped me to gain added perspective on some of the stuff (stages) I've been through, and especially the idea that the Wall is not unique to my experience but is a widespread occurrence-- and getting through it is normal as well.
  I have actually found new peace and enjoyment in some aspects of various levels, namely the moving from "doing to being" and "God being released from the box" of stage four, and the "new sense of God's acceptance" of stage five, and the "detachment from things and stress" of stage six.
  As a footnote, let me at least acknowledge that there are negative aspects of most of these stages, including the misunderstanding of those around us.  For example, stage four can look to outsiders like we are losing our faith, since there may be a loss of certainties at that point.  And stage five can look like you are out of touch with practical concerns, careless about "important" things, and not diligent in certain areas, since our lives are now abandoned to the Lord.
  This was a timely and significant read for me; thanks to these thinkers, Hagberg and Guelich for so aptly speaking for me.  The book, the Critical Journey, is available on Amazon.com or from the author's website: http://www.janethagberg.com/books.htm


Note: The writers number six stages of the journey, but they actually describe seven stages when including the Wall as a stage.  In my experience the Wall was significant enough to be considered a stage of its own.