A Place for Spiritual Direction (Part 1)

This is the first of a series of articles that will be exploring the ministry of spiritual direction. It is important to note that we will use the term “spiritual direction” broadly to encompass the ideas of mentoring and spiritual friendship. Spiritual direction can also be used to talk about a specific kind of soul care that requires a basic training in the history of spirituality, dynamics of spiritual development and object relations theory. With this in mind, I hope to cast a vision for the value of spiritual direction within the church today, but in order to do so we need to begin by asking what spiritual direction is.

Several years ago when I met with my spiritual director for the first time I wasn’t sure what to expect. Based on previous relationships with mentors I decided I would ask him for advice. Looking back, I just wanted him to solve my problems. I will never forget the paradigm shift that occurred when my spiritual director responded with a question rather than an answer. It was a simple question and yet incredibly profound. “Have you asked God for advice?” The honest answer was, “no.” That began a dialogue that moved beyond my desire to fix problems in my life into an exploration of my relationship with God. To red more, click here.