Chapter 11 - Spiritual Direction
What is spiritual direction?
There is a cliche that says that no one should be the judge in his own case. Every one of us has blind spots, particularly with regard to our motives and our spiritual condition. We may think we are acting out of disinterested love of God, whereas we are, at least in part, seeking approval from others, or to “earn” our way into heaven. We may think we have a vibrant prayer life, whereas we may be interested primarily in the emotional high we get from certain prayer techniques. On the other hand, we may think our effort at prayer is an abject failure, whereas we may not realize that God is acting to lead us into a deeper and purer form of prayer.
Almost any seeker, therefore, can benefit from a spiritual companion who can help him or her in a variety of ways: First, the companion can be someone to whom the seeker will have degree of accountability in her walk with God. Human nature is such that most of us are more apt to carry out our duties, even voluntary ones, more faithfully if there is someone to whom we must report on our performance. For example, if I have made a commitment to engage in Centering Prayer 15 minutes, I am more apt to honor the commitment if my spiritual director knows of it and will ask me how my Centering Prayer is going. If I am not keeping the commitment, then the director can help me explore why I am not keeping it, and whether Centering Prayer is an appropriate prayer technique given my temperament and circumstances. Twelve-step groups derive much of their benefit from the fact that a member must report successes or failures to the group. Likewise, if we have no one to whom we report our spiritual successes or failures, we may soon drop any pretense of trying to progress spiritually. Accountability helps keep us “honest” and on track.
I may think that I perceive God is pushing me in a certain direction, or leading me to pray in a certain way, or has given me a deep spiritual insight, but, left to myself to ponder what has happened, I may easily misinterpret God’s message, and even be mistaken that the message is from God. I may be choosing my own spiritual path and asking God to bless it rather than seeking God’s will in my regard. My spiritual director can help me discern how God is acting in my life and how I might faithfully respond to God’s action. If God, for example, is leading me into infused contemplative prayer or the Night of the Senses, a director can help me identify the situation and give gentle guidance to assist me down a path I have never traveled before.
Finally, a director can give me support in my pilgrimage, praying with me and for me that I might be ever faithful to God working in me. Thus, a spiritual director can be helpful in at least four ways: 1) accountability, 2) aid in identifying how God is acting in my life, 3) formulating an appropriate response to God’s action once it is identified, and 4) receiving encouragement and prayer support. Spiritual direction should include all of these components.
Perhaps the reader is wondering why I am including a chapter on spiritual direction in a work on contemplative prayer. Several times in the previous chapters I pointed out that having an experienced spiritual director to turn to for advice, or even as a compassionate sounding board, can be an invaluable aid for the soul who is seriously trying to open herself to God’s transforming grace. Christ did, for better or worse, give us one another as companions on the journey and commanded that we carry out his work of ministry to the world and one another. Spiritual direction is a ministry to which one is called by God. Pity the person who chooses it for him or herself without that call.
Contemplative prayer, particularly infused contemplation, is certain to be a mysterious experience and may even be a frightening one as well if it is entered through the Night of the Senses. We all need all the help we can get.
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