About The Author

Mary K DeLurgio, MFT

Trusting the emerging process of inner wisdom and its schedule for insight and inspiration was a 25 year project completed now as Our Journey to the Sky – A Guide to the process of Spiritual Formation. During this extended period, Mary K DeLurgio led hundreds of personal journal keeping, self exploration workshops and classes. Observing the life process of these participants as well as her own has led to deep insight into the natural process of spiritual formation at work in the ordinary life of any human being. Currently, using her book as a manual, she is leading an ongoing group as they develop their spiritual awareness using journal writing techniques. She is a practicing psychotherapist living in Southern California with her husband and she is the mother of four sons.

Life History of the Book — Our Journey to the Sky

Periodically, beginning in the early seventies, I would be spontaneously inspired to write a little story or a poem or a dialogue — always in metaphor — that captured a piece of my spiritual reality. One of the first was a dialogue with the Voice offering me the Sky. The entry into my journal was an unexpected writing experience that took on its own life and flowed quickly and easily.

“What did this offer mean?” I wondered. What was the Sky? Why did the Voice tell me that it was “The head that thinks that shrinks the heart”? What was meant by “Taking the sky with my hands”? What was the meaning of the forgotten apple core found in my pocket? It has taken many years — almost thirty — to understand this inner dialogue which over time had become a focal point in what is now Our Journey to the Sky.

The apple core was the biggest mystery. The Voice said it was a good thing that I had not thrown the core away because the apple core loved me! Loved me? What could that possibly mean? It was not until late 2004 – thirty one years later that its full meaning became apparent.

But in the beginning, this inner dialogue along with ten other little stories, spontaneous dialogues and poems, were shelved until the day they were all laid out and I discovered that although the subjects had not seemed related, one flowed into the next carrying an ongoing narrative. In the form of metaphor — like parables — they outlined the unfolding, formative process of spiritual awareness.

But how to explain the movement embedded in human experience meant to carry the development of Wisdom? I had to formulate concepts with an explanatory text that would give the lively images intellectual validity. And I wanted the concepts to surface from my own inner directive — they needed to be articulated without the help of references and footnotes, so I did not read spiritual material for twenty years.

I wanted the concepts to be fresh and original, just like the metaphors were. Since the metaphors had come as spontaneous images and insights offered up from some unknown Source, I wanted to demonstrate that the next phase of the work would rely on the same Source of inner wisdom to conceptualize the process of spiritual formation. I knew the information would be articulated in its own timing. I had to trust myself to find the right words. I had to wait. And wait.

I knew also that wisdom coming from a common Source belongs to everyone, so its content would not be new, but its presentation needed to be fresh.

For twenty five years I would periodically sit and struggle to formulate and articulate the concepts that would surface. When an idea or understanding came, it could take days, even weeks, even months to nail it down. It was a process of living and learning, and there was no way to hurry it up. I always felt guided and of course stimulated, but the work was laborious. It did not spontaneously flow like the metaphors had.

As it developed over the years I would use the available material in the journal keeping workshops I was leading, and even in my client’s therapy sessions. Participants would take pieces of the work to explore their own lives, and the results were gratifying. In 2000 a group formed to use the manuscript and apply journal keeping methods to explore their spiritual reality.

Spiritual Formation

In 2004, while sitting with the writing group I made a spontaneous entry [in metaphor] into my own journal and it surprised me by illuminating another facet of the mysterious apple core. This entry clarified something unnamed that I had felt was missing in the manuscript. Not long after that I knew that the work was complete. Our Journey to the Sky — A Guide to the process of Spiritual Formation was ready for publication.

This book has been my great teacher. It has proved to me that the universality of inner wisdom will emerge in any given life if that individual is open to search, struggle with and wait for it.

I have recently completed Keeping a Spiritual Journal — a companion workbook that will take you deeper and farther on your inner journey. Each lesson, based on a chapter from Our Journey to the Sky, provides detailed easy-to follow instructions. Together these books are a powerful tool designed to guide you into your process of developing wisdom.

Festive Book Signing Party for Local Author

On a recent Sunday afternoon, 140 friends gathered at the home of Mary K and Joe DeLurgio in La Canada Flintridge for a very special event, a book-signing party celebrating the publication of Mary K’s book, Our Journey to the Sky—A Guide to the Process of Spiritual Formation. Her book has been evolving over the last 25 years through her personal journal writing and that of the people who had participated in one or more of the hundreds of journal writing workshops DeLurgio has led over the years.

During the first 20 years of her journal work, DeLurgio decided not to read other spiritual books. She wanted to observe her own process and that of her journal workshop participants without the input of other writers. DeLurgio says she “wanted to demonstrate that the universality of inner wisdom will emerge in any given life if that individual is open to search, grapple with and wait for it.” Later, she began to see how the concepts she was forming related to the works of the Christian mystics, Zen Buddhism and other spiritual traditions. The result is a book that provides a fresh look at the process of spiritual formation.

According to DeLurgio, “Our Journey to the Sky does not reflect a particular doctrine or theology. The reader is simply guided into the natural process of developing insight that informs, illuminates and deepens any religious tradition or spiritual path.”

Thirty-eight years ago, Mary K and Joe DeLurgio purchased what was originally a small redwood farm house in the midst of large vineyards. The property was part of a much larger tract of land once owned by E. Manchester Boddy, former owner of the estate now known as Descanso Gardens. There the DeLurgios raised their four sons: Joe Jr., an electrician specializing in vintage lighting. David, a cardiologist in Atlanta; Daniel, a professional musician and singer; and Adam who owns his own catering company, The Cast Supper, which serves the movie and television industry. The DeLurgio home sits in a grove of eucalyptus trees on an acre of land in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. As time went on they added on to the small home. With its mission furniture and dark woods, the sky-light and window-filled room home has the flavor of the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. Through the windows there is a beautiful view of the lush property surrounding the home. A dry creek bed, designed by Mary K, and filled with boulders, rocks and wildflowers runs through the property. The overall atmosphere is one of rest and rejuvenation: a perfect retreat for those who want to step back from their busy lives and reflect.

In the late 1960’s DeLurgio began to participate in a journal workshop process developed and led by Dr. Ira Progoff. In the early 1970’s she began teaching the method to small groups and thus began a 30 year process of leading hundreds of journal workshops primarily at the DeLurgio’s La Canada home. According to Camille Dull, here very first pupil, “Mary K’s workshops gave me form and focus which made all the difference in my life. I was able to use my current experiences as well as my childhood memories to fuel my growth. We came together to work separately in a loving, tranquil setting. Mary K’s encouragement and insights as well as the support of the group helped tremendously.”

DeLurgio also attended graduate school at Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles where she obtained her degree in psychology and family therapy and has been a practicing psychotherapist since 1978.

La Canada Valley Sun