Module 16 ~ Integration

4/5/2018

Welcome to Module 16!

In this module we will prepare for our spring residential institute. The pieces assigned were chosen to set the stage for our ongoing conversations on: development, tools for self-discovery, and deepening of your understanding of spiritual guidance, including can serve as a self-aware and compassionate guide.

You can download the module here:
http://www.awakenedliving.com/SGTI/Module16.pdf

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Once you leave a comment or question, be sure to put a check mark in the box that says you wish to be notified of responses. When someone comments on the module, you will receive notification of their response in your e-mail inbox. We will be checking in regularly to address comments.

Please try to post module-based questions here, rather than sending us a separate e-mail. It will be easier to keep Q & A in one place, so everyone benefits. Of course, if you have a question of a more personal nature, please e-mail us.

We hope you will check in once each week to let us know how you are doing and to connect with your classmates.

Let the conversation begin! We welcome your thoughts and look forward to chatting it up with you!

“The word 'listen' contains the same letters as the word 'silent'.”
― Alfred Brendel

5 Comments

Barbara

4/9/2018 12:47:50 pm

Are there specific books we should bring to Chicago. I'm planning to bring Mabry, but wondered about others.

Jan

4/9/2018 12:57:30 pm

Barbara, we will be sending out an email in the next day or two with a list of what to bring, expect, etc. Trying to help you pack light! Thank you! J

barbara

4/9/2018 02:25:38 pm

thanks Jan!

Jeffrey Phillips

4/16/2018 12:48:42 pm

RQs (Goonan).

1. I'm not sure what is meant by this because we were not assigned those pages, but I do know that there is nothing more difficult (even unlikely) than personal transformation ("change"). Changing one's self requires tremendous desire, work, and exterior help (coach, therapist, etc.). What I think might be meant by the phrase "disidentify with the level you are at" sums up the core problem: how do you change when all know is what you know - your core identity as a human being? Our basic personality is probably firmly set early on by our genes and birth-age three environment - so much so that real transformational change is forever plagued by the tendency to rely on what we know, who we are, how we've always responded and thought, and other "templates" that drive our attitudes and behaviors to such an extent that they are as fixed as they are unacknowledged. I hate being pessimistic about the ability of people-leopards to fundamentally change our/their spots, but I suppose I am.

That said, I do find theoretical models such as Wilbur's to be helpful because once and a while in life, we are motivated to explore the possibility of significant personal change, and, when we are, we need some kind of theory to guide us. Wilbur's four quadrants is as good a model as I've ever seen.

I've also been told in therapy that sometimes to make a personal change, all we have to do is try a small change, and see where that leads. "Little things mean a lot," I often say to myself. In those times, it is still helpful, even necessary (at least for me) to have the guidance of a model like the four quadrants.

To further answer this RQ, there have certainly been times in my life when inner change has been desired - and maybe even modestly achieved. Actually, this is one of them. I am tired of being a pastor - at least being an "in charge," full-time pastor. I am tired of not being a prayerful and self-reflective human being. That is why I am in this program. However, as mentioned before, I find myself going back to the old frames of mind, behaviors, and other "default" patterns that did not satisfy then and do not now. "Wretched man that I am!" a deeply frustrated Paul self-reflects in Ro. 7:24. Like him, I know what I want to do, but can't seem to do it, and the thing I don't want to do is the very thing I end up doing (Ro. 7:15-20). WHY? It's a heart problem, a spiritual problem, isn't it? So at least I've started down the right road and find myself in the right program - an intentionally spiritual one.

Paul suggests a spiritual way out of his spiritual exasperation, one that gives me hope: "Who will rescue me from this...? Thanks be to God, who delivers me..." (Ro. 7:24, 25). There is hope, and it comes from a movement of grace, which requires openness to grace. It's not a movement of will. It's not up to me, but it does need my willingness to cooperate with the Spirit and receive the work of the Spirit within. If this is so, then, again, I am on the right path and among the right friends (my spiritual director and SGTI colleagues) to progress along the way.

I am encouraged to see the agreement among the traditions that the universal spiritual "problem" is ego, that the universal spiritual goal is ego awareness and ego-shedding, and that the universal spiritual prescription seems to be AWARENESS. I keep this before me as both hope and method, affirming again that the only way forward ("change") is through, not around, and that the path to transformation (to whatever extent it is truly possible) runs through the heart, the seat of spiritual freedom and joy from which comes renewed being and doing.

2. This morning's discussion of the four quadrants was helpful (especially in how we might explore spiritual direction with others with the quadrants in mind), so I'm not sure I can state them in my own words any better than in the many words that are provided in the article.

However, I am having trouble distinguishing between quadrants 3 and 4. I've never thought much about the difference between anthropology (Q3) and sociology (Q4). I need to learn/reflect more on those concepts.

That admitted, I do indeed see social factors as crucial for the spiritual guide to keep in mind and explore with seekers. We are, all of us, products of our cultures and social systems - more than we are aware and like to admit. There is so much about me that has to do with the fact that I am a white, gay, able-bodied, cisgenerdered, American, liberal Protestant male born in 1959, and that I am Clarence and Juanita's son. Yes, I've got genes I can't change, and am my own unique person in a lot of ways ("individual" aspects of personality that cross Q1 and Q2), but I readily admit the social nature of my personality as well, and see it in others, too. No one, in the spiritual life or any other part of life, is the "lone ranger," "Marlboro man" individualist that we Americans like to think we are

4/16/2018 01:00:07 pm

RQ 3. The events, people, places, and experiences that made me who I am today mostly occurred by the age of 25. I suppose I've made some adjustments, gained some insights, and maybe grown slightly wiser as the years have flown by, but (sadly?), I don't think I've changed much since 1984. That said, I am convinced, as I said above, that it is the intentional spiritual path that holds the greatest promise for whatever personal transformation is possible in later middle age, and for that promise I am both hopeful and grateful.

Module 16 ~ Integration

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