“We all–by necessity–see everything through the lens of our own temperament, early conditioning, brain function, role and place in society, education, our personal needs, and our unique cultural biases and assumptions…To help us escape from this trap, the formerly rare ministry of spiritual direction is being rediscovered and revalued in our time, especially among the laity. It is a proven way to hold personal experience accountable to Scripture, common sense, reason, [good psychology, and tradition].” –Richard Rohr in Eager to Love–The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi
Spiritual direction is a response to an invitation. It is for those who sense a call to go deeper in their relationship with God through Christ and want a companion and guide for the journey. And it is for those who have found that life has tossed them upside down and aren’t sure how to reorient to God from this new position. And it is for those who are having difficulty finding answers to their growing questions about the nature of God, the purpose of life or their dissatisfaction with church or their present spiritual condition. And it is for those with a gnawing sense that there must be more … There are as many ways to awaken to the invitation as there are people.
Spiritual direction appointments are typically once a month on a regular basis. The director is equipped and very often gifted at listening and asking questions that will assist the directee in their journey of reflection, discernment and spiritual growth. Over time the directee often becomes more attuned to God’s presence and finds new ways of understanding and connecting with God.
Spiritual direction appointments are typically once a month on a regular basis. The director is equipped and very often gifted at listening and asking questions that will assist the directee in their journey of reflection, discernment and spiritual growth. Over time the directee often becomes more attuned to God’s presence and finds new ways of understanding and connecting with God.
Eugene Peterson, a Presbyterian pastor, author and professor of Christian spirituality, describes it this way,
“It is teaching people to pray, to discern the presence of grace in events and feelings, affirming the presence of God at the heart of life, sharing a search for light through a dark passage, guiding the formation of a self-understanding that is biblically spiritual instead of merely psychological or sociological. It is ‘space to explore the everyday ordinariness for the presence of God and workings of grace’, precisely at those times when ‘nothing seems to be happening.’”
“It is teaching people to pray, to discern the presence of grace in events and feelings, affirming the presence of God at the heart of life, sharing a search for light through a dark passage, guiding the formation of a self-understanding that is biblically spiritual instead of merely psychological or sociological. It is ‘space to explore the everyday ordinariness for the presence of God and workings of grace’, precisely at those times when ‘nothing seems to be happening.’”