Spiritual formation is rarely discussed in church. At least, I am sure I have taken in or endured as the case may be, thousands of sermons. The closest they seem to get is on the topic of discipleship, which is related, but not the same. We pore over books about the stages of child development or how a marriage grows, yet spiritual formation remains a bit of a mystery. Part of the reason for this is that, like most theories about spiritual or emotional growth, spiritual formation remains a bit of theory. Like the stages of grief, the actual living out of our spiritual lives is somewhat individualistic. Many hypothetical…