The Spiritual Journey: Critical Thresholds and Stages of Adult Spiritual Genesis

I found this to be one of the more fascinating expositions of human spiritual development that I have ever read. It's not an academic study, though the authors draw helpful parallels with the work of Levinson, Erikson, Fowler, Piaget et. al. It describes the stages from viewpoint of the one experiencing them rather than trying to take an "objective" look at human development. This perspective is particularly apparent in the chapters on the "Nights" of the spirit, faith, hope and love which draw on the writing of St. John of the Cross on the "dark night of the soul." I found these parts to be disturbing yet compelling. I found myself in a strange sort of dialog with the book through most of it. There are some good passages for spiritual directors. The only thing which I felt to be lacking in this book is any insight from the authors on how these stages are lived out faithfully by people (like me) who are not monastics or hermits. That is left as an exercise for the reader. Maybe that is as it should be.

In the words of the authors, this book "afford directors the principles of discernment which they need in order to guide their directees through the various stages of spiritual genesis". And boy, is this book cheem! (meaning "deep" in colloquial local (Singapore) dialect). I was intrigued from the first chapter until almost the end. There was so much said about the different critical thresholds of spiritual genesis. The authors firmly believe that spiritual directors have to have a knowledge of the critical thresholds of spiritual genesis so that a directee can be helped in his/her relationship with God. The authors said that if a spiritual director is not aware of these thresholds, s/he could do more harm to a directee. St John of the Cross's "dark night of the soul" and "dark night of the senses" are explained clearly and signs and conditions to determine these states in a directee are set out for a spiritual director. As mentioned above, this book is "deep" in its context and delivery. I would recommend it to one who already has a notion of a contemplative soul and St John's "dark night". For me, it even got so cheem at the point of spiritual espousal and spiritual marriage that I find it hard to follow. However, as a spiritual director, this book does help me to understand how important it is for me to know the spiritual dynamics at work in a directee before I "dish out" comments or further suggestions as to how a directee should approach prayer and his/her relationship with God. The signs and conditions of authenticity of various stages in a directee's spiritual genesis set out in the book definitely alert me to watch out for these signs and conditions. This is definitely one book I'd need to refer to again on my journey as a spiritual director.