Journey of Illumination (JOI)
The Journey of Illumination
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We are pleased to invite you into this Journey of Illumination, a process for continued spiritual growth and transformation of men. Below are our five touchstones.
The Journey of Illumination is a five-fold process or practice, informed by rich spiritual tradition, that challenges you to show up and pay attention daily to the need to overcome the weight of your routine. The goal of this process is to realize a full, intense and well-grounded spiritual journey. Doing so is not easy, but it does involve clear elements.
Centering - We are men grounded in the power of the here and now.
Show Up and Observe - Each day challenge yourself to make contact with your true Source.
Gathering - we are men who listen deeply to each other's stories.
Show Up and Get Together - Regularly look for support and accountability with other serious brothers.
Connecting - we are men who choose another to walk with - shoulder to shoulder.
Show Up and Share - Challenge yourself to find spiritual disciplines that keep your mind and heart open and connected, your body centered, and your emotions grounded.
Releasing - We are men who let go of the ways that no longer serve us.
Show Up and Let Go - Living in the present moment requires us to release the past. Solitude and silence are traditional ways of allowing this to happen.
Serving - we are men who honor the earth and serve the whole human community.
Show Up and Act - Find some way to give it away. To have it for yourself is to lose it. The 12-Steppers call it the 12th and necessary step.
“This process challenges you to show up and pay attention daily to the need to overcome the weight of your routine in order to realize a full, intense and well-grounded spiritual journey. Doing so is not easy, but it does involve clear elements. Learn more about each one below.”
Suggested Readings
Bill Plotkin
Soulcraft
Since 1980, depth psychologist Bill Plotkin has been guiding women and men into the wilderness—the redrock canyons and snow-crested mountains of the American West—but also into the wilds of the soul. He calls this work soulcraft.
Richard Rohr
Adam’s Return
Based on decades of work, travel, and experience, Rohr, a Franciscan brother and best-selling author, unearths the complexities of male spiritual maturation and helps us to understand the importance of male initiation rights in both culture and the church.
Henri Nouwen
The Return of the Prodigal Son
A chance encounter with a reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Return of the Prodigal Son catapulted Henri Nouwen on a long spiritual adventure. Here he shares the deeply personal and resonant meditation that led him to discover the place within where God has chosen to dwell.
James Finley
Merton’s Palace of Nowhere
This one door is the door of the Palace of Nowhere. It is the door of God. It is our very self, our true self called by God to perfect union with himself. And it is through this door we secretly enter in responding to the saving call to ‘Come with me to the Palace of Nowhere where all the many things are one.