Spiritual Direction is an ancient tradition within the
historic Church whereby an individual seeks to grow closer to God with the help
of another person who is capable of helping to hear the Spirit within.
It is about listening to God with the desire to know and do God's Will, and grow
in Love of God and Charity toward self and others. It can take various forms depending upon the director and directee.
In recent years spiritual direction has been known by several
names or descriptions, such as spiritual journeying, co-journeying,
soul-friendship, soul-mentoring, or spiritual-mentoring. Spiritual
direction has been a tradition within the Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church
since the beginning of the Church, regardless of the name that was used for it
in various parts of the world. Soul-friendship was also a sacred tradition
among the pagan Celtic people, and the concept of soul-friendship was readily
baptized into the Christian Faith in the early Church among the Celtic people.
The Celtic monks combined this tradition with the sacrament of Penance as a
normal practice, and influenced the early Church's ritual of the sacrament,
changing it from a public confession and penance once before death, to a private
exchange between the penitent and confessor, and done more frequently than once
before death.
Today, spiritual direction has been rediscovered by
more of the laity within the Catholic Church, and newly discovered by many non-Catholics in growing numbers. This is one area of spirituality where Christians are
united, i.e., in the desire to grow closer to God and have that close
relationship affect their daily lives.
A very wise spiritual director once put
it this way: "A spiritual director is a farmer, not a fireman. He
plants seeds. He doesn't put out fires!" A seed brings forth new
life and growth, and this is the purpose of spiritual direction, not merely to
respond to emergencies!
HOW does it work?
Before beginning spiritual direction, the director and
directee talk together about their practical expectations, and their personal
approach to spiritual direction. They may agree to try the spiritual
relationship for a set time, then to evaluate it before committing to an ongoing
relationship of spiritual direction. In this manner both will feel
comfortable enough to continue together. If the match is not a beneficial
one, it is understood that the directee is free to seek another director.
We will try to help him or her do this so the directee is not left feeling
alone.
Is there a fee?
When one goes for spiritual
direction to a member of the clergy of a Church, normally that person is on
staff and is paid by the Church or religious body, which in turn collects
donations to provide such services.
If one goes to an individual who is
not on such a staff a fee is determined. Each director has his or her
own policy regarding that.
