The origins of this reflection go back nearly twenty years. I wrote it for presenting in the final stages of ‘The Art of Spiritual Accompaniment’ in Sheffield. What began as a fairly straight presentation I discovered was actually a meditation. I recently revived it for presenting on the final day of Sarum College’s spiritual direction[…]
Category: Spiritual Direction
Conversation
The poem below was sent to me recently. It beautifully describes something of the depth of what Spiritual Direction offers. To be honest it somewhat awes me in terms of how I as a directee live up to this description. But then I’m also awed by what it is to sit with someone and be[…]
Seismic Shift in Spiritual Direction?
Encouraging conversations revealing Seismic Shifts The two zoom meetings of people involved in Spiritual Direction and Spiritual Direction training on the 14th and 21st July respectively were really encouraging. I had a strong sense of being in the company of a deeply engaged group of people with a passion and commitment to Spiritual Direction and[…]
Spiritual Direction and impact of Covid-19
I’ve just had two fascinating zoom sessions looking at impact of Covid-19 on the ministry of Spiritual Direction. The first yesterday afternoon (14 July) was an online meeting I organised in which 42 participated from around the UK – a time to share experience and listen to what is emerging. I was struck by the[…]
Zoom & Spiritual Accompaniment
Zoom and Spiritual Direction: What are we learning? Zoom has boomed under lockdown, and I for one have been on a pretty steep learning curve with it. Having now conducted dozens of one to one spiritual direction conversations, convened several committee and small group meetings and led a couple of online half-day sessions for spiritual[…]
Monmouth 1 June 2020
Resources to accompany session with Spiritual Directors from Monmouth Diocese on Discernment in Spiritual Direction – 1 June 2020 Leaflet with definitions of consolation and desolation and summary of Discernment Guidelines from the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises Powerpoint Slides Handout Discernment in Spiritual Direction You can watch the two talks that I gave within the session here.[…]
Seeking Spiritual Direction – its arrived!
I was really pleased today to receive the first copies of the book Liz Hoare and I worked on over the summer. Published by Grove Books in the Spirituality Series we wanted to produce a book that was practical and theological in helping people think about Spiritual Direction who may never have come across it[…]
Preparing for the Spiritual Exercises
I’ve used John Veltri’s ‘Orientations’ to take people through the Spiritual Exercises. Of the various adaptations of the Exercises for the 19th Annotation that I have used, this is my preferred option. All the resources are online but some of the key elements are: Prayer exercises to help someone prepare for the Exx: http://orientations.jesuits.ca/bob/page5.htm#77 The[…]
Consolation and Desolation
Ignatius defines these terms in a very specific way, that is different to their common usage. This makes it important when using the terms to be clear about their meaning. One really helpful explanation which I have been reminded of since writing my book comes from understanding the spanish / french roots of the words. consolacion –[…]