Well, the whole world is filled with speculation.
The whole wide world which people say is round.
They will tear your mind away from contemplation.
They will jump on your misfortune when you're down.
--Bob Dylan, “Ain’t Talkin’”

I. Relationship and Process

In The Art of Christian Listening, Thomas Hart provides the definition of spiritual direction that I have used most frequently both inside and outside of direction sessions:

The purpose of direction will be to sensitize people further to the presence and action of God in their lives, and to assist them to make a fuller and more appropriate response to it. The objectives are that simple: awareness and response.[1]

I continue to be struck by Hart’s condensation of spiritual direction dynamics into two basic movements: “awareness and response.” There are limitations to such a short definition (it masks many complexities), but it is extremely helpful to have an easily memorized definition, especially when describing spiritual direction to someone for the first time. In addition, when acting as a director, I have found it helpful to recall this definition periodically to remind myself of the sessions’ intended focus, which is (1) to increase awareness of God’s Presence and (2) to facilitate a proper response.

Beyond this basic definition, I have also frequently returned to Maureen Conroy’s understanding of spiritual direction in Looking into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors:

The primary goal of spiritual direction is to help an individual grow in a personal relationship with God. Specific purposes are to assist people to:

· recognize, pay attention to, and respond to God’s specific self-communication in life, prayer, and relationship.

· savor, relive, and enjoy the affective touches of God;

· notice differences that take place because of their affective experiences of God;

· explore God’s seeming absence;

· recognize explore, and uncover areas of resistance, darkness, and unfreedom that prevent an individual response to God;

· sift through interior movements;

· grow in deeper intimacy with God; and

· experience greater interior freedom, deeper joy, more grace-filled decisions, a more integrated life, and healthier relationships with self, others, and the world.[2]

In particular, I appreciate Conroy’s emphasis on interior freedom. We often hear about the benefits lifelong learning and proper diet and exercise (a sharp mind and healthy body), but we don’t always have language to describe why we should commit to the long, inner journey of spiritual direction. I have found that, for many, the phrase “interior freedom” articulates a deep longing that remains inchoate until it is named. Many are unaware that they desire to carve out a spacious room inside themselves for play, worship, and exploration. But once this potential is articulated, many desire to seek it.

Overall, for me, the most important dimension of the spiritual direction relationship and process is accompaniment: the director covenants to accompany another on his or her spiritual journey.[3] Spiritual direction, is a specific form of accompaniment, which is principally characterized by the fundamental movements of “awareness and response” to God’s Presence in the life of the directee. “Interior freedom” is an example of equipping the directee with specific language (like “savor[ing]…the affective touches of God”) that helps supplement the basic movements of awareness and response.

It is also crucial to help the directee discern concrete spiritual practices to which she or he is called (for example, Centering Prayer, the Examen, or Journaling).[4] It is insufficient to accompany a directee and provide her with language about God if you do not also help her cultivate first-hand experiences of which she can become more aware and to which she can better respond. Ultimately, however, I am grateful, along with Margaret Guenther, that “when all is said and done, the Holy Spirit is the true director.”[5]

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[1] Thomas Hart, The Art of Christian Listening (New York: Paulist Press, 1980), 32.

[2] Maureen Conroy, Looking into the Well: Supervision of Spiritual Directors (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1995), 5-6.

[3] I owe the language of “accompaniment” to Mark Yaconelli in his Contemplative Youth Ministry: Practicing the Presence of Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2006).

[4] For further examples (body prayer, praying in nature, lectio divina, etc.), see Daniel Wolpert’s Creating a Life with God: The Call of Ancient Prayer Practices (Nashville: Upper Room, 2003).

[5] Margaret Guenther, Holy Listening: The Art of Spiritual Direction (Cambridge: Cowley Publications, 1992), 39.