Ashes into Gold:
The Journey of Spirituality

Q1. What exactly is the journey of spirituality?

A. In my book, Ashes into Gold, the spiritual transformation that God may bring to our lives as a result of the "descent into ashes" is portrayed as a journey. Describing spiritual transformation in terms of a journey is an old metaphor that goes back to the early centuries of Christianity. Today the "journey" image is embedded deep in our western consciousness. In a broader sense, our entire lives--I am speaking of Christians now--can be described as a spiritual journey. We are wayfaring strangers traveling through this world of woe, as an old spiritual song put is.

Q2. Tell us more about the "decent into ashes." What does that mean?

A. Sooner or later, each of us descends into the ashes of life.  By that I mean we undergo a difficult experience that brings sorrow, suffering, and grief. I am not referring to the ordinary disappointments and difficulties of daily life. I am talking about major events, ones that have the potential to break--or make--us. There are many paths that lead to the ash pile of life. In today's culture, divorce, abuse, and addiction are common roads into ashes. Others descend into ashes because of a debilitating illness, the loss of a loved one, or even the loss of a job or career. Regardless of the particular event, the descent into ashes is a time of sorrow, suffering, and grief.   more . . .

The Gospel and the Twelve Steps:
Following Jesus on the Path of Recovery

Q1. What do the Twelve Steps have to do with following Jesus?

A. For me, following Jesus means that we become his disciples; that is, we become students or apprentices of Jesus. He is the Master and our job is to emulate him, to become like him. He is the master of life who came to teach us how to live life to the full. The Twelve Steps are tools that we use in our apprenticeship to the Master.

Q2. Can you say more about being students or apprentices of Jesus?

A. In centuries past, if one wanted to learn a trade such as making shoes or weaving, one went into service with a master of that particular trade. The student lived and worked with the master in order to learn the trade so that the student, or apprentice, would eventually also become a master of that particular craft. For Christians, Jesus is the Master of life to whom we apprentice ourselves. We emulate him by studying his life and teachings in order to learn the “craft” of abundant, joyful living based on love for God and others.

Q3. We hear a lot these days about being “born again” Christians. Is there a relationship here to the Twelve Steps?

A. When we admit that we are powerless to save ourselves and that our lives    more . . .