Nine Sacred Pathways

The process of becoming like Christ is what Spiritual formation is to me. There are several disciplines and pathways to choose from on the journey to become like Christ. From the Bible, Paul was one of the first to write to encourage many of the first churches to continue to pursue Christ. He wrote to the Galatians, “My dear children. For whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” (Gal. 4:19 NIV) He earnestly desired all people to know Christ and to make Him the center of their lives. He wrote about his own experience, knowledge and service to God, as an example for others, to encourage them in their relationship with Christ. This was the goal of Paul’s ministry, to make Christ known. The words he wrote,

The nine pathways include: “Naturalists – Loving God Outdoors, Sensates - Loving God with the Senses, Traditionalists – Loving God through Ritual and Symbol, Ascetics – Loving God in Solitude and Simplicity, Activists – Loving God through Confrontation, Caregivers – Loving God by Loving Others, Enthusiasts – Loving God with Mystery and Celebration, Contemplatives – Loving God through Adoration and Intellectuals – Loving God with the Mind” (2010). Thomas suggests that understanding our temperaments will help us know how we best relate to God and will help us understand the person God made us to be (2010). Emphasis is placed on tending to the garden of our soul so we are better able to feed others (2010). We need God’s nourishment and every Spiritual path should have Christ as the center for true Spiritual formation. I once heard, we must spend time with God in order to have the traits of God and the nine pathways provide us with different ways to spend time with God. Skye Jetham (2013) tells us what God cares most about is our presence. He really wants