Focus: Presence--Spiritual Direction on a Grand Scale

*published in Presence: The Journal of Spiritual Directors International, May 1999*

A couple of weeks ago as I sat cross-legged in my church's choir loft, I watched as members of our our bi-monthly "wisdom circle" settled in beside me around our makeshift altar.
At our circle, a theme is chosen and parts volunteered for, so nobody knows exactly what's going to happen. If I choose the readings, I know what they are, of course, but I have no idea what my wife Kate is likely to do for our ritual. So it's always a surprise, sometimes chaotic, but usually it manages to be both fun and soulful.

After our regular "check-ins," Lawson, another member of our group, began the grounding. He talked about the value of appreciation, and then gave us an opportunity to practice it: "In no particular order," he said, "let's just speak out those things that we admire about each other."
We felt a little put on the spot. The intimacy level in our group has always been high, but "gushy" we are not. Still, we have been meeting together in various forms for over five years, and know each other's gifts and frailties well. Lawson modeled his request by turning to Christine, a teenager who was visiting for her first time. She had been talking about what she had been facing in school recently, and Lawson told her that he admired her for facing her challenges with courage and maturity. She accepted this graciously, and then turned to her mother, saying how proud she was of her, how well they communicated, how difficult she knew it could be sometimes to be a mother today.

The rest of us caught on pretty quickly. One by one, we each shared something we admired about another in our circle, and before long it dawned on most of us what an exceptional group of people were seated in this circle, and how much love and appreciation we felt for each other.
Group direction has always felt special to me, because it forces me to evaluate my spiritual life in the context of community, where real life is lived anyway. "My" journey becomes "our" journey, and even if the particulars aren't universal, the overarching themes usually are.

I have felt this same "glow" of appreciation working on this current issue. Each of the articles herein have touched me deeply in one way or another; challenged me, prodded me, and asked more of me than I initially expected.

In this way (and many others) Presence is similar to group direction. Unlike one-on-one direction, where there is primarily one speaker and one listener (I'm counting God as participating in both!), in group direction there are a number of people, each of whom share from their experience of God in turn. And while each person is sharing, the rest listen with compassion, and, as is the way with dreams and myths, your story becomes my story, and mine, yours.

So it is with Presence. With each article, one person in our large "direction" group (almost 4,000 strong!) shares from his or her heart, as the rest of us listen with compassion. Then, another shares, and his/her experiences, experiments, epiphanies, and yes, even dreams, are shared by all of us. Article by article, the sharing happens. And through our "Readers Respond" page, through the sditalk list, and in your regional gatherings, the conversations continue. Those things which our authors "bring forth from the depths" touch each of us, and enrich our lives and our ministries.

As I was putting the finishing touches on this issue, I mentioned to my wife that I know it's a good one when I've experienced my own "a-ha's" with almost every article. This is one of those issues. I'd like to take a moment to go around the circle, and note my admiration for each of them.
In our first article, "Sacred Place: An Opening to the Inner Journey," Ramona Miller discusses the phenomenon of our pilgrimages to sacred sites, and what is really going on in us during these special and often profoundly moving visits. What really spoke to me in her article was her assertion that "sacred space can be tread upon without being entered." Just as a person can read a poem straight through, without "entering" the poem or allowing it to touch his or her heart, so one can stroll through a sacred site without "entering" it. In other words, I can go into it without letting it into me. This article made me reflect on just how many blessings I have passed up because I did not grant them entry, even as I trod on them. It also made me wonder how many places might be sacred to someone else, but which I passed through clueless to the sacredness of the place. Too many, I wager.

The next article, Lois Lindbloom's brief but eloquent examination of the phenomenon of hearing "voices," was a great relief to me, and I hope, to many others. Like so many folks, there have been important moments in my journey when I have heard "the voice of God" in more or less audible ways. Kudos for Lois for giving us an article that not only doesn't make me - and the many others who have experienced this very thing - feel crazy, but instead grounds her discussion on this controversial topic in both tradition and contemporary psychology. I felt both comforted and challenged by her words. I think you will, too.

Janet Ruffing shares next, offering an article that speaks to a question that came up often for me during my training: "What happens when a director and directee are at vastly different stages of spiritual growth? How can effective spiritual direction happen?" Janet's article is a readable and practical guide to the problems and promise of these sorts of situations, and her analysis of things to "watch out for" seemed at points to be speaking directly to my own situation. It's scary when that happens.

Our two "Contexts & Cultures" articles deliver on our goal of "pushing the boundaries" of spiritual direction, offering perspectives on two communities which we don't immediately think of in association with our ministry, the Jewish community, and Generation X. Both are written from the perspectives of those who have worked in those communities for many years, and I hope they will be the source of much subsequent discussion.

Finally, Donna Stoneham's reflection on "Entering the Healing Heart of God" takes the theme of bodywork and direction and projects it into the virtual, providing us a glimpse of how even a guided meditation of having bodywork can be healing and spiritually nurturing!
Thanks to Jim Keegan, who served so long and well on the Presence editorial board and who provided us with our "Listening to Scripture" column for this issue. And many thanks to Bob Gardenhire, also retiring from our board. We will miss you both, and hope that our future issues will do you proud.

Let this session of our grand "group direction" begin! z

-John R. Mabry