The Passport Project

Vicki came up with a wonderful metaphor of a passport as a way to balance the need to both customize and standardize Discipleship Formation. We both like the idea of the National Park Passport, especially, because anyone can get one and enjoy exploring the parks throughout America. Here’s how we got there.

I stumbled on a YouTube video, “6 Reasons we play games that are more boring than life,” which led me to a TED Talk by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow, the secret to happiness. I’ve been relaxing with a Truck Driving Simulator (ATS and ETS2) for the past year, and was interested to explore the attraction (it’s pretty strong). Turns out, these games employ a tried and true compulsion loop involving (1) challenge, (2) reward, which open us a (3) new challenge. Turns out, that kind of thing is catnip for our brains. But unlike life, video games reinforce this loop by (1) making expectations clear, (2) normalizing the trail and error method of learning, and (3) celebrating small victories in a big way.

I began to think of ways in which a Discipleship formation practice could use these tools, and shared my thoughts with Vicki, who came up with the metaphor of a Passport. Each of the formation topics would be a place to visit and explore in this schema, rather than some task to be mastered. Passport stamps would be one of several ways to celebrate these visits and explorations – which could be package tours (formal classes or presentations) or self-guided adventures, experienced individually or in groups. Favorite places could be visited again and again, or a person might benefit from a themed itinerary, perhaps based on places they have enjoyed in the past.
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In the introduction to her book, Spiritual Disciplines Handbook, Adele Ahlberg Calhoun compares the practice of the spiritual disciplines to a “journey with Jesus into the God-given desires within you, to ‘learn the unforced rhythms of grace.'” She reminds readers that her book, like all resources and guides to the spiritual disciplines – the life of a disciple – is “like a compass that gives you bearings. It provides you with ways of responding to Jesus, the polestar of the soul.” Calhoun goes on to describe the method of navigating and exploring the vast territory of this way: “Once you figure out how to navigate the material, you can find your way forward from any point on the spiritual journey.” This way of honoring and validating all places on the Way while offering an invitation to continue to explore the vast scope of the Way in any direction the Spirit seems to be leading is the sense of our passport project.

I’m excited about the possibilities, even as I am overwhelmed by the scope of the concept and the task. But it’s a start of something that could be wonderful and helpful to people who might like to explore the Way of Discipleship more intentionally and fruitfully. Step one involves brainstorming the lay of the land, so to speak, so I’ve identified four primary areas of discipleship, using the verbs, Pray, Honor, Story, and Serve. For each of these areas, I’ve started brainstorming places that might interest people in visiting and exploring on this Way.

Let’s see where it takes us!