Spiritual Direction may not be for everyone. It can be of profound benefit and impact, however, for those who long for a more expressive, expansive and meaningful life and living. Some of us feel a pull to expand our conscious awareness and understanding of our life, of life, of the greater Mystery of Life. Working with a Spiritual Director is a key way of self-discovering one’s spiritual awareness and expression in life, in deep and meaningful ways; it’s a unique relationship, with focused intent and soul-nurturing contribution to one’s life.

What is Spiritual Direction?

It is the art of deep listening as experienced through a trusting one-on-one relationship.  It is a providing of companionship on a personal pilgrimage, walking together in spirit to provide support and discernment.  It is an integrating of one’s intellectual, emotional, social and cultural contexts.  It is a receiving of help to sort through distortions and temptations.

Spiritual Direction provides balance, compassion, tough love and illumination as an individual is confronted, proposed and challenged to connect with the Divine’s affirmation of their worth, of God’s affirmation of their potential.

A Spiritual Director (SD) is a competent guild who ‘companions’ another individual – listening to that person’s life story with an ear to discern the movement of God/Divine or the spiritual expressions of their lives.  The SD assists the seeker-client in uncovering, discovering and guiding the direction of God/Divine in their life.  She enables the directee client to see, claim, receive, own and honour the voice, nudging and/or acting of God/Divine in their life.

So, why Spiritual Direction?

The phenomenon of spirituality is the quest for ‘who’ and ‘why’ in reaction to a world of ‘what’ and ‘how’

  • Action vs. Reflection – life is actively lived, but it requires reflection for learning and evolution of one’s consciousness

  • Doing vs. Being – society emphasizes ‘doing’ – time for ‘being’ is crowded out and life becomes unbalanced and destabilized

  • Loss of Mystery – each of us is a walking miracle – here we reside in this astounding universe of life, Divine Mystery, and yet out society focuses on profit/loss, yes/no, win/lose; we live by sound bytes instead of by poetry – the loss of mystery is lethal

  • Wanting vs. Needing – ours is a culture of instant gratification, self-papering instead of self-discipline; clarity between want and need is essential

  • Superficiality vs. Depth – societal tolerance for people who refuse to be defined by narrow parameters of ‘normal’ and ‘expected’ – there needs to be exploration of all the ways one can be human, humanity expressed

  • Supportive Accountability – fostering humility and perspective vs. arrogance and power

  • Nurtured Growth – human growth is built into the fabric of our existence – seek intentional formation, so that one’s growth happens in stages

  • Calling – explore the intensity and depth of one’s calling – daily living or vocation or incorporating one’s spiritual qualities into their day-to-day roles or total devotion

  • Shadow Side – reflecting on universal dark moods, feelings, emotions which are part of the human experience, and exorcise their impacts

  • Games vs. Meaning – each of us needs to come to a point where he or she is tired of the “games” – seeking the ‘yes’ to meaningful existence and beginning intentional pilgrimage

How does Spiritual Direction work?

There are several types of spiritual direction and relationships, all of which can serve a specific purpose and time, in both the directee’s and director’s lives:

  • Personal Direction – we are our own spiritual director through prayer, journaling, meditation, contemplation and spiritual readings/sacred texts

  • Friendship as Direction – we have a friend who helps us on our journey and who we connect with spiritually (we draw one another out)

  • Mentoring as Formational Direction – we follow role models who have ‘been there’ and have experienced and suffered but gained wisdom – it’s an apprenticeship

  • Mutual Direction – each spiritual companion listens and then gives direction one at a time – think ‘talking candle’

  • Communal Direction – where people not only learn how to give spiritual direction but also receive it – mutual feedback

  • Personal Discernment through Corporate Direction – an individual asks for spiritual guidance from a group to make a major decision (e.g. vocational direction) – a clearness session

  • One-on-One Spiritual Direction – a director-directee relationship, that deals with the meaning of life (vs. therapy, which is dealing with crisis, coping, counselling, problem resolution) – it is about how one integrates body/mind/spirit into soulful expression and living