I have been through seasons when I looked spiritually busy and felt far from God. Mansions of the Heart helped me think more honestly about that gap.
R. Thomas Ashbrook draws on Teresa of Ávila’s Interior Castle and John of the Cross’s Dark Night of the Soul to describe growth in relationship with God. The “mansions” are an image for stages in that relationship, not literal rooms or rewards waiting in heaven.
“Spiritual formation” is the phrase Christians often use for this growth: the way our desires, habits, character, and relationships are shaped as we follow Jesus. Ashbrook presents a map of that process. I found it helpful without needing to treat every person’s life as an identical journey.
When familiar church life feels shallow
One part that struck a chord was Ashbrook’s description of the fourth mansion. A person may become frustrated with worship services, Bible studies, or ministry because things that once satisfied them now seem shallow (Kindle locations 2136 and 2324).
During my time at Nyack, I knew people studying for Christian ministry who loved God but did not want to attend or help in existing churches. Some wanted to start their own because they believed everyone else was doing church wrong. I had struggled to understand that combination of love for God and frustration with church.
Ashbrook gave me another way to consider it. Perhaps, for some, this was part of a deeper spiritual transition. That did not prove where any particular person belonged on his map. It did make me less quick to dismiss their frustration.
The question my prayer life asks
The statement I agreed with most was that “our prayer life is most diagnostic of our spiritual growth” (Kindle location 2182). In plain language: the way we pray can reveal more about our relationship with God than the way we present ourselves.
There were times when I read Scripture, served people, and looked like a “man of God,” but was not having an honest conversation with him. Those were also times when I drifted furthest away and felt most alone.
By contrast, I went through a season when I read the Bible less often and did little service beyond caring for my family, yet remained in constant conversation with God. During that season I experienced remarkable growth.
I am not recommending neglecting Scripture or other people. I am describing a difference I experienced between maintaining the appearance of faith and actually living in relationship with God. Ashbrook helped me name it.
A reason to keep growing
I had difficulty finding a point in this book that I could confidently argue against. Some passages poked and prodded me in ways I did not enjoy, but discomfort by itself was not a reason to reject them.
I was especially drawn to the seventh mansion: the picture of a love for God expressed in wholeness, holiness, and service. “Holiness” here means a life increasingly shaped by God’s character, not an air of religious superiority.
The book left me excited about what might still lie ahead. It reminded me that there is room to learn, grow, and be surprised. I also began sharing the book and putting parts of its teaching into practice in my ministry.
What I value most is the invitation to keep going deeper. Looking the part is not the same as knowing God. I want the relationship.
Book discussed
R. Thomas Ashbrook, Mansions of the Heart: Exploring the Seven Stages of Spiritual Growth (2009), Kindle edition. The description of the seventh mansion refers to location 3701.
A question in the margin is a good place to begin.