“From Dysfunction to Resilience: A Good Road to Travel” by Tom Ersin
Growing up with dysfunction can cause lifelong mental health and emotional issues along with physical disorders caused by extreme chronic (long-term) stress. Seek education and support for yourself if you have a family member or other loved one who has exhibited persistent dysfunctional behavior. Whether or not that person wants or gets help, you’ll learn what you can do to help yourself. If you grew up with a parent or guardian who was that member, learn how to break the cycle, get yourself well, and raise children to go out into the world without the emotional baggage you had.
Richard Rohr’s Levels of Spiritual Development (Part 1-4) by Wes Eades
This morning at St. Paul’s I’ll begin to raise questions about what we mean by “spiritual formation,” which is the fancy term we now use rather than the older term “discipleship.” Anyone raised in a religious setting is familiar with the concept of “spiritual growth.” This concept is all over scripture, especially in the writings of the Apostle Paul:
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me (1st Corinthians 13:11).
There have been many, many attempts to describe, in more detail, what this process of growth looks like. Rohr does an excellent job of integrating many of these attempts into the following “levels.” He presents this material in his book The Naked Now. I’ve relied very heavily on the summary is from this site in presenting this material.
I’ll open the conversation this morning with my elaboration on Ken Wilber’s metaphor of the warehouse, and then get into Rohr’s material.
Here’s the basic list of the stages:
BE A SUPPORTER OF EADES’