What Is Spiritual Direction?
Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. ~Rumi
All through our lifetime the world expands as we discover, learn, grow and out-grow. For me, the nautilus shell is a perfect metaphor for the unfolding of spiritual growth. The shell has many chambers, each larger that the one before. The creature lives in one chamber until it outgrows the space and moves into the next larger chamber, sealing the chamber behind it. But what I love most is that the vacated chambers are not like abandoned rooms. They are the very thing that keeps the creature buoyant. As the creature keeps growing forward, around and around in circles, it remains attached to its past and carries its story wherever it goes. Like the nautilus, we are always forming and learning from our past experiences. The spiritual journey is not linear. We, too, circle around and around in our growth process, often bumping up against familiar themes, living through them in new places.
Spiritual direction offers companionship and guidance as we circle around the truth of who we are as a manifestation of God.
If your heart is restless with holy longing for deeper connection with the divine, the process of spiritual direction provides a safe harbor in which to explore those inner most stirrings. In this one-to-one relationship, the spiritual director (guide, companion) offers a sacred space in which to explore your interior landscape. Without imposing a point of view, the spiritual director deeply listens for the wisdom that is already inside you. Through gentle exploration, holy listening and reflection, the director helps you notice the places where the movement of God is revealed within the context of your everyday life experiences. The gentle art of spiritual guidance is simply and profoundly this:
Holding the space for another to come into deeper relationship with the Holy, and to manifest that deepening in their lives.
With years of experience accompanying others, I see myself as a companion on your spiritual journey of discovery and growth much like that of a mid-wife who offers support to the unfolding of the sacred in your life. The spiritual journey is the way we come in direct and intimate relationship with the Holy in our every day living, available to all; however we do it, wherever we are, “beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing.” And if you are seeking, you have already come to God. During our monthly sessions, I will deeply listen for those places where God is revealed and perhaps offer guidance in the form of information or point you in the direction of a book, a practice or a prayer. Most importantly, whenever we sit together in the sweetness of this process, the Third Chair is the Director.
All through our lifetime the world expands as we discover, learn, grow and out-grow. For me, the nautilus shell is a perfect metaphor for the unfolding of spiritual growth. The shell has many chambers, each larger that the one before. The creature lives in one chamber until it outgrows the space and moves into the next larger chamber, sealing the chamber behind it. But what I love most is that the vacated chambers are not like abandoned rooms. They are the very thing that keeps the creature buoyant. As the creature keeps growing forward, around and around in circles, it remains attached to its past and carries its story wherever it goes. Like the nautilus, we are always forming and learning from our past experiences. The spiritual journey is not linear. We, too, circle around and around in our growth process, often bumping up against familiar themes, living through them in new places.
Spiritual direction offers companionship and guidance as we circle around the truth of who we are as a manifestation of God.
If your heart is restless with holy longing for deeper connection with the divine, the process of spiritual direction provides a safe harbor in which to explore those inner most stirrings. In this one-to-one relationship, the spiritual director (guide, companion) offers a sacred space in which to explore your interior landscape. Without imposing a point of view, the spiritual director deeply listens for the wisdom that is already inside you. Through gentle exploration, holy listening and reflection, the director helps you notice the places where the movement of God is revealed within the context of your everyday life experiences. The gentle art of spiritual guidance is simply and profoundly this:
Holding the space for another to come into deeper relationship with the Holy, and to manifest that deepening in their lives.
With years of experience accompanying others, I see myself as a companion on your spiritual journey of discovery and growth much like that of a mid-wife who offers support to the unfolding of the sacred in your life. The spiritual journey is the way we come in direct and intimate relationship with the Holy in our every day living, available to all; however we do it, wherever we are, “beyond ideas of wrongdoing and right doing.” And if you are seeking, you have already come to God. During our monthly sessions, I will deeply listen for those places where God is revealed and perhaps offer guidance in the form of information or point you in the direction of a book, a practice or a prayer. Most importantly, whenever we sit together in the sweetness of this process, the Third Chair is the Director.