Spiritual direction for dummies

Описание: Spiritual direction for dummies
(and other smart people who don't know where to start)
By Father Warren Sazama, S.J.
http://www.vocationnetwork.org/articl...

Spiritual direction is a process of nurturing your spiritual life. Here's a basic overview of how it works.

Find a spiritual director. Ask for a referral from a vocation director, campus minister, priest, sister, lay minister, or any person whose judgment you trust. If you're considering a particular religious order, you might want a spiritual director from that group because he or she would be familiar with its approach to spirituality.

Meet regularly with your spiritual director. Talk about what has been going on in your spiritual life. What is going well and what not so well. If you are in a vocational discernment process, tell your director how you feel regarding your vocation. Allow your director to guide you to a more spiritual understanding of God and your part in the divine plan.

Remember why you're here: If you're trying to discern God's call, then you must pay attention to what God is saying to you. For that to happen, you must pray regularly and pay attention to the various spiritual movements within you.

Accountability and companionship helps your process: A regular meeting with a spiritual director forces you to look more carefully at your experiences so that you can better articulate what's been going on in your life. You will reduce the possibility of self-deception and keep on course to discover what God wants for you.

A willingness to enter spiritual direction can be a kind of vocation litmus test. Committing yourself to these initial basic practices shows you are serious about determining God's will.

Unexpected horizons await you. And having a spiritual director for a guide can help you discover paths to some amazing places you didn't know you had in you.