Shalom Place

Spiritual Transformation

- by Philip St. Romain; all rights reserved

Image below is from a handout. See principles of transformation beneath the image

General Principles

1. God dwells within each creature as the source of all of the levels of its being. God is also transcendent to each creature, dwelling in a mode known only to God.
2. The human spiritual soul is the source of life for all the levels of the human being. The body, emotions and mind are in the soul, and the soul informs their functioning down to the most remote level.
3. Each level has its own domain of lawfulness and functions accordingly.
4. The energy of the soul is constantly working in all the levels to promote growth, integration and wholeness (Jung’s individuation).
5. Because of sin (non-love, conditional love), all of the levels of our human nature have been wounded. These wounds and the defenses, attachments and addictions we develop in response to them frustrate the soul’s efforts unto individuation.
6. Human identity is, typically, out of touch with its spiritual and divine origins and centered, instead, on self-concept, which people seek to promote and defend.
7. With the Incarnation, human nature becomes more intimately connected to God through the person of Jesus Christ. Henceforth, the energies of the soul are imbued with the Holy Spirit, which works to renew human nature in the image of Christ.
8. Human nature becomes transformed through implicit faith (love, moral living) or explicit faith. Both are accompanied by the “shalom,” or serenity of the Spirit.
9. Through explicit faith and deepening prayer, the energies of the divine become more active in the soul and one’s identity becomes more grounded in the True Self and Christic levels.
10. As the divine energy becomes more active, one’s attachments and defenses are stripped away so that inner wounds may be healed. This healing involves “walking through the valley of darkness,” a re-encountering of one’s brokenness, but under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, who is the Divine Therapist. This journey is called the Dark Night of the Soul. It is the true “way of the cross,” or “cost of discipleship.”
11. The journey through the Dark Night is not all misery and trepidation. There is the serenity of the Spirit, and also growth in the spiritual level of one’s being (intuitive intelligence, awareness, inner freedom). Drastic changes in lifestyle may be called for as all of the levels of one’s being become transformed to manifest the life of the Spirit.
12. The Church is supposed to be a community of people who are on this journey together, strengthening one another in faith, hope and love through prayer and worship, helping one another to carry our crosses, extending the healing power of forgiveness and reconciliation, and acting as a leaven to bring the entire world into the fullness of Christ.