journey through darkness... 2/2

Here is the continuation of Jamieson's list of chaarcteristics of what he calls the journey through darkness.

• It is a journey from trusting in, and being strengthened by, external authorities (e.g. church leaders, the Bible, etc.) into an internally based authority that is willing to be responsible for one's own faith, beliefs and life decisions and on to a growing acceptance and integration of both internal and external voices.

• It is a journey from an effortful faith to a doubtful faith and on to a restful and thoughtful faith.

• It is the journey from a faith like Martha's, which is troubled by many things and worried about all that has to be done, into a faith like Mary's, which is able to choose the one thing that is necessary, and on still further into a faith that expresses both Mary's heart and Martha's hands.

• It is a journey from a faith that needs mentors, leaders and disciplers to lean on, into a faith that is encouraged by those who sponsor and support the individual's own exploration and on into a faith that draws on others as co-discerners in the will and leading of God.

• It is a journey of faith from external truth, towards a growing trust in self-truth and on to an embracing of communal truth, symbolic truth and paradoxical truth. 96-97

Jamieson, A. (2008:96 ff). Chrysalis: The Hidden Transformation in the Journey of Faith. Carlisle: Paternoster.

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