Spiritual Direction... ya gotta love it!

When I was accepted as a candidate for ministry in the Uniting Church, the Selection Committee made a recommendation that, as part of my formation for ministry and personal growth, I engage with a Spiritual Director to work through some issues.

One of the unexpected fringe benefits of being a ministry candidate, is that when such a recommendation is made, and the theological college faculty agree that such a step is in the best interests of my development, the college actually pays any costs associated with the Spiritual Director (a bit like the professional development and training budget that many workplaces have for staff).

I accessed my Spiritual Director through Campion Ignatian Spirituality Centre, at Kew (there are a number of places around that offer spiritual direction, Campion was one I picked from a list of suggestions made by the college faculty). The application for spiritual direction was an interesting process. I had to complete a form, outlining a bit about myself, my spiritual journey and why I was seeking spiritual direction at this time. This form then went to the Director of Campion, who used the information on the form, to prayerfully match me with one of the centre's Spiritual Directors.

I've now had about 3 or 4 sessions with my SD and am just loving it. He has helped me to work on some practical ways to deepen my prayer life and general relationship with God, and especially to recognise and celebrate the "God moments" that present themselves in the course of the everyday.

There have been times when our conversation has led to tears, and sometimes to laughter. One memorable occasion occurred when I was lamenting something that had happened, and I made the comment:

"Sometimes is seems like everything in my life is motivated by guilt ... and I'm not even Catholic!"

I suddenly remembered where I was, and, horrified, said:
"oops... sorry.. umm... no offence intended"
at which he just burst out laughing uproariously.

It is certainly a gift of God's grace to be able to spend time with my SD exploring the nitty gritty of my relationship with God, my calling to ministry and the joy I feel at all the new things I have been discovering and experiencing since commencing my studies.

I would certainly recommend spiritual direction to anyone seeking to draw closer to God in a more deliberate way.