What is the Inward Odyssey?

The Inward Odyssey is a publication from me, Jonathan R. Bailey.

It’s the online space where I write about spiritual formation in the Christian tradition. You’ll find three unique kinds of posts here:

  • The Threefold Way. These are brief excerpts from my pre-published work about the transformational path of the Threefold Way, a book project I’ve been working on for many years and hope to release into the world. What is the Threefold Way, you ask?

  • Letters from Saints. These short pieces may be my favorite collection. Here you’ll receive spiritual guidance in letter form from some of the greatest Christian saints. Francis de Sales is my go-to guide, his insistence to have patience with yourself has become essential wisdom for my transformational journey.

  • Desert Wisdom. Here you’ll find my best-loved sayings from the Desert Fathers and Mothers with my concise commentary thrown in. Here’s the top post on the site right now.

If you want to learn about me and my work, then Longing to Change is the best place to start.


My day job is at Dwell, an app that I co-founded to help people reclaim the ancient practice of listening to scripture. Long before Gutenberg's printing press changed the world, Christians for centuries had studied, learned, and lived the truths of Scripture as they heard it read over them. Counterintuitive as it may seem, our team at Dwell believes the smartphone, a technology as revolutionary as the printing press, has the ability to help people join their modern life to the rhythms that shaped and animated the first 1,500 years of Christian history.

I serve on the Ministry Team of Renovaré, a non-profit ministry that models, resources, and advocates fullness of life with God experienced, by grace, through the spiritual practices of Jesus and of the historical Church.

I also authored The Eternal Journey, a booklet that explores the Threefold Way, the classical stages of Christian transformation.

How My Work Will Benefit You

I’m an advocate for a Christian spirituality that is rooted in the Christian tradition but also intensely practical for people living in our modern world. The core question I explore through my work is:

What can I learn from the past to help me better participate in the present?

In other words, I want to find out how Christians from the past have worked with God's transforming grace and live that as honestly as I can.

My writing focuses on ideas like…

  • How to navigate the transformational path, the classical stages of the Threefold Way

  • How to cultivate better rhythms and routines using a Rule of Life

  • How to train wisely and gently with Spiritual Practices

  • How to develop virtues and diminish vices

  • How to live simply in a complicated world

  • How to be at ease with my transforming self, avoiding shame and embracing mercy

These ideas aren’t necessarily my own. If they were I wouldn't be all that interested in them! They are ideas I've found, and worked to build upon, after hours of reading and study.

I worship in the Anglican Communion, but I value and embrace the beauty and balance of the Christian tradition. Thus, I explore all three branches of Christianity: Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant.

I especially enjoy gaining insights from the Desert Fathers and Mothers and the entire monastic tradition. I also spend a lot of time reading letters of Spiritual Direction, learning from real practitioners of the Christ life. A few of my favorites are Francis de Sales, François Fénelon, and Baron Friedrich von Hügel. I read their letters, and others like them to find practical, nuanced thinking that resists black and white thinking.

Ultimately, I love trying to find the wisest ideas and then explain them in a way that's easy-to-understand and practicable. That’s why I send this newsletter every week. We all benefit from the wisdom of our Christian ancestors. And I like the idea of helping people reconnect to it.

You may want to start by reading my article What is the Threefold Way? Or get a free digital copy of my booklet at Renovaré.

I live in North Dallas with my wife Kori, son Gray, and daughters Abigail and Liv.

Subscribe to The Inward Odyssey

Brief posts that trace spiritual formation in the Christian tradition with a focus on the inner transformation that happens along the Threefold Way. Sent Fridays.

People

I explore spiritual formation in the Christian tradition and explain it in a way that's easy-to-understand and practicable.