Midday Meditation: The second stage of Hagberg & Guelich’s Critical Journey is called “The Life of Discipleship.” This is a time of learning and belonging. We join a spiritual community, and listen to the voices of those who have been on the journey longer than us. This can be a very comforting time, as we have a sense of being cared for by a community and being apprenticed into the life of faith. We don’t struggle with much doubt or have to work a lot out for ourselves, because it’s been done already, and we live in a place of certainty—we have found the truth! “[S]tage 2 frees us to explore, to learn, to quest, to absorb, to put into place our set of beliefs or faith principles. In this stage we learn most about God as perceived by others we respect and trust. We are apprentices. It is a time to be with other people in that process, a social time with companion searchers on the journey. Because we are relatively unsure and insecure at first in our growth and in what we believe, it is very useful to include others in this phase… There is comfort at this stage, knowing that we personally do not have to figure out the answers...There is a feeling of being safe, not having to worry because there is somewhere to go, someone who knows, a set of guidelines, a group that supports us. It feels like having huge hands under us, everlasting arms supporting us all along the journey, even when crises occur.” – Hagberg & Guelich, The Critical Journey Consider the years of your young faith (whatever age that may have happened!). Having met/recognized God, how did you build a foundation in your faith? Who were your teachers? Who was holding you in that time? What were you reading in those early days? Pause right now, close your eyes, and hold your story with God. See what God draws your attention to from that (or *this*, if you are here now!) season. What do you see? How do you feel about that stage in your journey? What do you want to tell or ask God about that time?

Posted by Jamie Bonilla at 2022-09-13 18:14:58 UTC