Each life can be divided into specific stages because a person is constantly developing and growing from childhood to the elderly age. According to Hutchison (2018), there are four stages of adulthood related to faith that can occur: Synthetic-Conventional, Individuative-Reflective, Conjunctive, and Universalizing faith. This paper argues that I am currently on the stage of Individuative-Reflective faith.
To begin with, when I was a child, my mother and I attended local church regularly, which I appreciated very much. Then, my family moved to another state, and my mother became too busy to pay visits to the church with me, and this is how I lost contact with a church. The past two years brought major changes in my life due to the COVID-19 pandemic: I experienced family losses, divorce, and moving to another location. Now, I am looking for a church to attend regularly with my son, as my mother and I used to. Therefore, I see myself in the stage of Fowler’s theory of faith development called Individuative-Reflective (Nolt, 2021). At this stage, I examine and evaluate my beliefs, question different things, and move forward with my faith. One cannot claim with absolute confidence that he will find it possible to enter the fifth stage, the stage of enlightenment. However, I realize that I need to continue questioning to seek answers and grow both spiritually and emotionally.
In conclusion, due to the experience that I had during my childhood and time spent with my mother in church, I want to create a similar attitude to such activity with my son. I appreciate the past that I had, and now I am moving forward through various difficulties with the faith. Moreover, I believe that this path is the right one, and it is possible to achieve enlightenment by asking questions and growing spiritually.
References
Hutchison, E. D. (2018). Dimensions of human behavior: The changing life course. SAGE publications.
Nolt, J. (2021). Faith development theory and a developmental approach to spiritual formation. Seminary Doctoral Programs. 411.