Spiritual Direction: a Practical Introduction

by Sue Pickering

Spiritual direction has been an intrinsic part of the Christian tradition since the earliest days of the church when desert mothers and fathers were sought out for their wisdom and guidance. Today, the popularity of retreats and renewed interest in monastic spirituality has put spiritual direction in the spotlight. It is shedding its rather exotic, mystical associations and is increasingly regarded as a core component of Christian ministry.

This guide aims to equip clergy and laity engaged in this task, or in training for it. It includes, Part What is spiritual direction? This is an exploration of biblical, historical and contemporary models of spiritual direction. What makes a good spiritual director? Part Two covers listening and responding to God, prayer, paying attention, discernment, interpreting religious experience, recognising God in the every day, journalling, and holy leisure. Part Three covers listening and responding to others, listening to stories and experience, looking for signs of grace, pain or crises. Part Four covers listening and responding to ourselves, and Part Five covers spiritual direction in the local church.

221 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Garland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary of Major Thesis of Book:

Using the metaphor that begins and ends this book, it was written to teach the reader how to become a bridge for others to further their relationship with God. As a bridge we are incarnational - we use our soul, heart, minds, feelings and bodies to hear others but also to hear from God.

But in order to hear, we must be contemplative and slow down to listen to the Holy Spirit speak to us . We must ask of others and of ourselves, “How is God working?”

As so, she structures the book into six parts:
What is Spiritual Direction?
Listening to God
Responding to God
Listening and Responding to Ourselves
Listening and Responding to Others
Spiritual Direction in Parish, Chaplaincy and Community Contexts

Best Quotes:

No matter where we meet, director and directee meet for the same purpose - to help the directee attend to God. (Pg 31)

How do we know when the true self is beginning to emerge? In the intensification of the ‘fruits of the spirit’ we begin to see the outworking of both spiritual and pshycolocial growth. …. In daily life we and our directees become increasingly free from having to protect our image of ourselves; we can be vulnerable before others and compassionate towards others, because we know the truth of our condition and the wonder of God’s gracious love for each one of us. (Pg 115)

By placing this chapter before ‘Listening and Responding to Others’, I am emphasizing the point that, unless we are intentional about developing self-knowledge, and accepting and caring for ourselves, we risk failing those we seek to serve. Worse still, we may put them at risk if we do no’ practice what we preach’ in terms of prayer, balance, simplicity and making our relationship with God our first priority. (Pg 122)

God then wants us, and our directees, to face our inner reality and bring it to God in prayer, because
if we deny our pain and failures,
If we try to hide our anxiety or pride,
If we won’t face our addictions to work, pornography, substances or power,
If we are out of touch with our emotional life,
If we can’t accept our sexuality,
If we won’t admit it when our spiritual life is boring and barren,
we are avoiding the truth about ourselves, and denying God the chance to meet us in our present reality. (Bullet points mine, page 123)

Whenever we find ourselves reacting in a way that is disproportionate to the circumstances, we need to check and ask ourselves, ‘What am I reacting to here? How does this relate to something in my own life or personality?’ In prayer we can ask God for the grace to see what we need to see, so that we can address what we might be avoiding. As we grow in Christ and become more self-aware, we begin to withdraw our projection and become less critical of others. (Pg 136)

Critique:

I found this book very helpful. The author logically walks through this “listening and responding” structure - first with God, then with Ourselves, and finally with Others.

She also does an excellent job of laying out a principle and then immediately following up with personal refection questions on the topic presented. There is an underlying principle that she if reinforcing: we can walk with someone in a place we have not already been. I slowed down enough to do work through many of the reflection questions, but noticed that many of them I had already wrestled with in the past ten years. It was confirmation that I am on the path God has is laying out for me.

The author also did a great job with resources and book references. My poor public library is going to be sick of seeing me ask for books on interlibrary loan.

The numerous dialogs between fictional directors/directees was extremely helpful. I appreciated how she would pause the conversation, ask the reader to reflect on what had been said so far, provide her own reflections (I felt like I had missed so much), and then let the conversation progress. I’m sure I will revisit this sections in the future.

Chapter 4 was very helpful for me. I am still a beginner. I am learning the truth behind the principle: Knowing ourselves is knowing God; Knowing God is knowing ourselves.

I want to form a Peer Supervision group as described on pages 138 and 139. I am reading the book Looking into the Well by M Conroy. The structure given in the four bullet points at the top of page 139 seem helpful.

[Knightgina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal. Maybe my fav book with so many practical tips for SD.