50th!!!!

yes, a couple of days ago (19 April) - I hit the 50 mark -
they say life begins at 40, so i've just turned 10!

Here i am surrounded by my fantastic children.

My beautiful wife is behind the camera

Four Spiritual Stages

I've just finished reading 'Naked Spirituality' by Brian McLaren. I heard Brian speak on the subject at Greenbelt last year. The book goes into more detail. It's a good read. Brian is heavily influenced by Richard Rohr, and unashamedly so. In fact he quotes Rohr several times throughout the book.
The 4 spiritual stages that McLaren suggests are the following:
1. Simplicity - where there's a high notion of 'right versus wrong' - dualism.
2. Complexity - 'effective versus ineffective' - pragmatism.
3. Perplexity - 'honest versus dishonest' - relativism.
4. Harmony - 'humility' seeking to encounter God nakedly.

McLaren sees these stages are spirals, that the spiritual journey takes us upwards in these 4 stages, spiraling upwards.

I can see something of this pattern in my own life. The early days when the faith was simplistic everything was easily divided into black and white; then the complexity of trying to work it out and 'perform'; this then leads to perplexity (for me the most difficult stage to move out from) when faith is almost lost, God seems distant and almost inexistent...
I don't know if I've ever experienced the harmony stage - or maybe I've had a small taste of the intimacy of God, naked before him, accepted despite myself - loved, not because I deserve it but loved because God is love...but then it's so easy to get back to trying to prove myself to others and God.