Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction

by Christine Valters Paintner, Betsey Beckman

The resource is designed to help spiritual directors and others use expressive arts in the context of spiritual direction. It is the latest book in the unique SDI series, designed for professional spiritual directors, but also useful for clergy, therapists, and Christian formation specialists.

The Spiritual Directors International Series – This book is part of a special series produced by Morehouse Publishing in cooperation with Spiritual Directors International (SDI), a global network of some 6,000 spiritual directors and members.

Genres: Spirituality, Prayer, Nonfiction

256 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2010

About the author

Christine Valters Paintner, PhD is the online Abbess at AbbeyoftheArts.com, a virtual monastery and global community. She is the author of over 20 books on contemplative practice and creative expression including three collections of poetry. She lives in Galway, Ireland where she leads online retreats with her husband John. Christine is a Benedictine oblate, living out her commitment as a monk in the world.

Reviews

[Marianne Mullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book for connecting a spiritual journey to expressive arts. Practical exercises and topics to process (like grief and dreamwork). Whether or not you are a spiritual director, this book could be used to take yourself though expressive processes to explore your spirituality.

[Bonnie Westmark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book culminated my goal to read every book written by Christine Valters Paintner. I found the ideas to be inspiring for me as a teacher and for practicing self care. The incorporation of lectio was a highlight, since this is a daily practice for me. I found myself listening to music more, walking out in nature daily, taking pictures, and being with God in contemplative prayer as I read this book. I also bought a journal and started writing poetry. Composition notebooks were delivered yesterday for all of my students, as this book reminded me of the importance of giving them time to write poetry and reflect as well.

[Christine Hiester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love love love this book! Such a wonderful resource of creative prayer, with many examples, practices, and personal experiences. Beautifully written as well.

[J. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Practical & inspiring! A mix of theory & practical application in unlocking a deeper connection with God through the creative.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A resource for spiritual directors seeking to incorporate the arts in their ministries, Paintner and Beckman offer many suggestions on how to engage the arts in spiritual discernment and expression. Good resource for directors to have.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect addition to my spiritual direction practice. It also fills my own need to weave the life of my art into the life of my soul. And actually... it all blends together as one anyway. Paintner is really the best author to read on this topic... much like Joyce Rupp.

[David Corbet · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for Spiritual Directors. It is very hands on and leads you through many activities to use in groups, with individual directees and personally. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to expand their awareness.

[Lindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book for those using creative encouragement in the practice of spiritual direction.

[LuAnn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas for incorporating various art forms, including story telling, music, movement into spiritual direction and retreats, and in the readers own prayer practice.

[Carrie F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cinquain and the guidelines for groups come from this book. Tons of creative exercises to use.