(1) Filling the Gap

Following the Kelsey lecture at the cathedral, on the way
home, I had a good talk with my analyst friend. I told him
about the point Kelsey made, the one that grabbed my
attention. I also mentioned my personal concern, in that
experientially I began to realize that something was *missing*
when it came to the sense of the spiritual during my sessions
with my analysands.

Academically I felt that I had received a broad scope of
training when it came to spiritual development, but it simply
was not enough. Dare I say "bland." It was like there was
no spice when it came to my approach--and, to be honest,
I felt a certain disappointment. I had not capitalized on the
enthusiasm I had felt when I was finishing-up at Duke, even
when I rushed into my Jungian professional training.

My friend and I had a fine talk, and it felt good discussing
my concern. At last I was airing-out my sense of failure.
What was it that was missing from my well-planned formula
over these years since Los Angeles? My friend asked if it
might be "God" who was missing?

Well, I had to admit that my conception of the spiritual was
more of a humanist approach. I had been appealing to the
human spirit, in that we need positively cope with our world--
especially our inner world--come to understand such, accept
it, work towards figuring how we, individually, fitted into this
world, and work towards grasping who we are in it. I felt
that by understanding the archetypal elements that circulated
in our mind, how this archetypal construct--put together--makes
us who we are!

Now I suspected that there was far more to this than just a
humanist spiritual approach. As for "God," or the "Holy Spirit,"
I was forced to confess that they played very little in my life.
I not only ignored the possibility of such a Higher Reality, I
rarely even thought much about it. At an obvious level, I
guess that I equated all this with the institution of church or
any given faith system. In the end, I had to ask myself whether
I was a "man of faith." I wasn't sure!