Series Overview
Let’s begin by taking a bird’s eye view of what we’re going to be considering for the next six weeks. The title of this series is “Twelve Steps to Spiritual Growth.” I could just as easily have called it “Twelve Steps to Spirituality.” The title presupposes three things: 1) that we know what spirituality is, 2) that spirituality has some value for us, and 3) that we desire spirituality…or more spirituality. Isn’t that why we’re here? Here’s what we’ll be covering in the next six sessions:
In this first session, we begin by discussing spirituality in general: what is it, why is it valuable, and what effects does a lack of spirituality cause? Then, we’ll introduce the twelve steps we’ll be following throughout this series: what are they, where did they come from, and why are they important?
In the second half of this session, I’ll discuss with you the prerequisites for a vital spiritual life and the first necessary step toward creating and maintaining spiritual growth.
In session 2, we’ll consider our relationship with the Transcendent, however we may identify it: as God, or the Universe, or just the Wholly Other. We’ll examine the difference between belief in the Transcendent (faith) and trust in the Transcendent (hope).
Our third session will focus on ourselves. Our past messes have left a lot of rubbish behind. Before we can invite anyone into relationship with us, we’re going to need to root out the residue of past mistakes and get rid of it.
In our fourth session, we’ll look at our woundedness. After all, nobody gets out of childhood undamaged. Those untreated or unhealed areas need to be identified and addressed so that they don’t cause further problems for us.
Once we’ve finished healing the relationship with ourselves, it’s time to turn to our interrelationships with others in our fifth session. Whether it’s our past fearful and self-centered choices or our refusal to show up for others, either way, we’ve done damage. We can’t progress in our spiritual life while still having unfinished business with others.
In our last session, we’ll put in place some tools that we can use to maintain those three critical relationships that constitute a healthy spiritual life: our relationship with ourselves, with others, and with God. Now, you can begin with Session 1.