Building a spiritual foundation that will last into eternity
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Major Jo-Anne Brown reflects on her two-year journey through The Salvation Army’s inaugural spiritual formation course at Booth College
Two years ago, students of the inaugural Certificate in Spiritual Formation course at The Salvation Army’s Booth College in Sydney, met for the first time as a group to discover more about the subject. Now, after much reading, reflecting, listening, learning and growing, the formal part of the course is over, but the journey of spiritual formation continues.
Spiritual formation is simply the process of becoming more like Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit within us so that we can better impact the world around us. Yes, there are many more in-depth definitions of what spiritual formation is, but basically it is about being conformed to the image of Christ. This course has equipped us with many tools (spiritual disciplines), opportunities and experiences to see this happen in our lives.
I don't believe that any of us are the same now as when we began this course. The time of sharing we had as we concluded the course demonstrated this, as we each eagerly discussed what we had learnt and experienced.
I know I am not the same. I feel like I have feasted on a rich banquet of great teaching, reading, reflecting and sharing that has shaped who I am and how I live out my faith. I understand so much more about my own relationship with God and what he desires for me. I have become so much more aware of him in my everyday life, I am learning to hear his voice more clearly and I am experiencing a far richer intimacy with him than I thought possible. And I am becoming more patient and forgiving with myself when I don't live out my faith the way that I want to, when I am hit by doubt and lack of faith or when I am less than I know God has created me to be.
Our journey of spiritual formation began with looking backwards. The first task was to write our spiritual autobiography, looking back at and reflecting on the “God moments” sprinkled throughout our lives that have brought us to this place and this time. I found this to be a deeply moving experience and was amazed to discover just how active God had been in my life, long before I was even aware of him. I was amazed at the threads of grace and love that he has woven through my life and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to reflect on my life in this way.
Much of our learning and shaping has been through discovering spiritual disciplines; regular practices that help us in the process of transformation. Such practices include new ways of reading God's word, of becoming more aware of him at work in our lives in the every day, discovering different ways of prayer and being introduced to some timeless classics of spiritual growth. Some of these “new” ways are actually quite old and date back centuries, but they remain amazingly relevant and helpful for people today.
We have been encouraged to read a wide range of material and to reflect on how it fits in our lives. Some of these old classics have much to say to us today and offer us different ways of exploring and explaining our relationship with the living Lord. We have been exposed to a lot of great teaching, beginning with what the Bible has to say about spirituality and formation, and then going on to learn about spiritual attentiveness and discernment, different pathways to spiritual transformation and different stages of faith development. Often this learning has been accompanied by a series of “a-has!” as things begin to make sense or fall into place.
We have experienced times of silence and solitude and have learned to press beyond our usual way of doing things to experience greater depth and awareness in our relationship with Jesus. And this is just the beginning! There is still more - immeasurably more - to experience in our journey with the Living One.
Report by Major Jo-Anne Brown
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