“How can we make disciples if we don’t know what one looks like?”
Retired Pastor
“We can’t hope to transform the world until we ourselves are transformed.”
Conference Lay Leader
By David Reinholz | Associate Conference Lay Leader (PNW)
Lately I have been pondering the question “Why Spiritual Formation?” By spiritual formation, I am talking about Christian spiritual formation, or the process of learning to follow the way of Jesus Christ. But, I think the term “spiritual formation” works equally well for other faith traditions, and even those who claim to be “spiritual, but not religious”.
Spiritual formation is our search for meaning. We ask the big questions, like “why am I here, how shall I live, or what’s my purpose in life?” For me, it is a search for God, or the Divine. I have discovered that in my search for God, I discover myself, or at least the person God hopes I’ll become.
Spiritual formation is a continuing process, a journey – one that lasts a lifetime. No quick fix here. Equally frustrating, we must learn to be content with mystery and not having the answers.
Something else I’ve discovered along my spiritual journey – we are not meant to go it alone. We need fellow sojourners, we need community. We need others to listen, hold us accountable, and accept us in love.
I invite you to participate in Sacred Encounter: The Journey from Contemplation to Action, the next 5-day Academy for Spiritual Formation to be held in the Greater Northwest Episcopal Area (WA, OR, ID, AK). Suzanne Seaton and Paul Jeffrey will guide us to encounter the Divine through contemplation and to see the divine spark in “the other”. The event is to be held from February 21-26, 2016 at the Archbishop Brunett Retreat Center at the Palisades in Federal Way, Washington.
