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The
Challenges of Faith in
the Quest for Cosmic Citizenship
The faith experience at this stage consists of the attitudes which we form toward our interactions with our primary caregivers.
Stage 1 Personal ValuesIn this stage personal values center completely around the needs of the self.
In this stage we learn how to manage life by imitating our primary caretakers. We are powerfully influenced by their examples, moods, actions and the characters in the stories they tell us.
Ideas of justice and fairness are viewed in terms of punishment and reward.
We assume without question that the experiences and perceptions we have of life represent the only available perspective and that this perspective is identical to that which is held by everyone else.
Imagination, stimulated by stories, gestures and symbols, and not yet controlled by logical thinking, combines with intuition and feelings to create long-lasting images that represent both the protective and threatening powers in our life.
We experience faith as trust in primary care givers. Our beliefs are unconsciously assimilated from the basic beliefs and attitudes of family members.
Stage 1 Faith Challenges
The challenge of this period results from the emergence of rational thinking combined with the arrival of a Thought Adjuster. At the heart of this transition is a growing concern to know how life works and to clarify for ourselves the distinctions between what is real and what only seems to be real.