Several years ago, I received an e-mail that advertised a doctoral program in spiritual direction. I remember little about the e-mail except the world stopped and my inner voice (aka the Holy Spirit) whispered loudly, “I want you to apply for that program.” My reaction to this was swift, “you must be crazy God because I have no desire to get a doctorate and I don’t want to be a spiritual director!” But God always gets the last word in my life. I don’t mean that in an authoritarian way. This experience was like a parent about to surprise their child with a spectacular gift, but it frustrated the unaware kid with the parent because they did not want to be taken away from their old toys. Turns out the surprise was far beyond any gift the child could imagine.
I am in my fourth year of said doctorate program, and it has been wild! After the first year, I went on a 30-day retreat for school that transformed me in ways that are still being revealed. There was a day on retreat that I felt immersed in God’s love and I knew they had showered me with more gifts than I could ever have imagined. Tears flowed as my senses flooded with love from the Trinity and the saints of heaven. There was no doubt in my mind that the Lord wanted good things for me and I thanked God for pushing me to do something I did not think I wanted to do.
It is very rare that I experience God’s voice speaking with such conviction. The Trinity is more often like a gentle breeze caressing my cheek or a warm touch on my back. When the wind rustles the leaves and water ripples across the lake, I sense God saying hello. A plump white peach in summer is savored like a sweet kiss, and the smell of honeysuckle saturates my body with God’s goodness. In silence, the Divine voice rises with declarations of love and care. Most of the time, this is how spiritual direction strikes me. All five senses are ignited and used to commune with God.
In spiritual direction, we listen for the voice of God and love’s touch in your life. Spiritual Directors are companions that walk with our directees to help them notice God’s presence all around them. We help our friends to slow down, listen, look, touch, feel, and taste the graces offered to us each day. Like manna from heaven, there is always more to collect than we can consume in a day’s time. Spiritual direction heightens our ability to reflect on the day and notice what we long for. It leads us home, to the very place we were created for.
I know many people are struggling with the church and God right now. It is a struggle I have intimate familiarity with. In spiritual direction, we sit with questions and do not press for answers. Together, a spiritual director and their directee wade through tough questions and painful life experiences. Sometimes God seems to be silent and even absent. It is the role of the spiritual director to hold that sacred space with care and confidentiality, never pushing for answers or solutions, but always having honest conversations with one another and God. It is one of the safest places I have found to explore my life with God and challenge myself to be more of who I am.
Spiritual direction is not counseling. I have been a therapist for almost twenty years and there are some similarities between the two practices. Both places offer confidentiality, safety, inclusion, and the listening ear of a trained counselor or spiritual director. Both offer pathways to healing and wholeness, and both are conduits of God’s grace. That being said, therapy focuses on specific evidenced-based practices that assist clients with a variety of challenges we face. The therapist and client are the two key players in the room, looking at a person’s history, emotional states, behaviors, and a variety of challenges. We can integrate spirituality into counseling, but only when the client desires that to be so. In spiritual direction, the entire conversation revolves around the directee and how they experience God and their spirituality now. In my imagination, I see an image of God or sense the Divine sitting with us.
Spiritual direction and counseling are graced companions. At the Ash Tree Center for Transformation, Connection, and Hope, we value holistic approaches to care. Sometimes that means counseling, sometimes spiritual direction, and sometimes both. Spiritual direction creates safe and inclusive spaces to encounter God’s love, and therapy provides safe places for healing and hope. These avenues often cross paths to share wisdom with one another and ask us to listen. It is in listening and reflection that we learn and can discern the way forward. If you are interested in learning more about spiritual direction or counseling, drop us a line!
*Also check out upcoming experiential workshops Tracy is offering on Polyvagal Theory and Ignatian Prayer through the Companioning Center. https://learning.companioningcenter.org/courses/tis-a-contemplative-practice-june-2022