Prayer has always both fascinated and repelled me. As a child, growing up in the forms and rituals of the United Methodist Church, I got hung up on whether I agreed or disagreed with the words I was saying. As I grew into young adulthood, I longed to leave words behind and simply experience the sacred directly, bypassing the head altogether. Now, I find that here, as in many other places in my life, I long for synthesis and integration. I long for a prayer life, again, that is neither rigid nor accidental, but full of life and intention.
One of the things that attracted me to the practice and the study of Spiritual Direction was the sheer variety of ways in which human beings seek to access the sacred. Spiritual Direction is one way…and a way in which one can have a chance to explore one’s ways, one’s paths, the places we stumble and succeed, the ordinary and the profane and the sacred…and find what is meaningful in all of it.
In this article from the NY Times, the author explores his own ambiguity about prayer across several traditions and philosophies, including spiritual direction.
Interested in finding a spiritual director for yourself? You can locate one near you here.
Great post today. Thanks. And I really like the NYT article.
However, the Spiritual Directors website is unsettling to me. Not sure exactly why, but looking at the list for just Houston with absolutely no knowledge of these people, it would seem to be a little like randomly picking an online site for buying shoes. Maybe struggling to find “my way” at this point in my life makes me super-sensitive about the source of my direction?
Again, thanks. Great food for thought.
Just occurs to me that maybe I’m not seeking a Spiritual Director because I have a great minister. :-)