Spiritual direction is a series of conversations in which a person tells their story, sharing thoughts, feelings, and understandings of life. The spiritual director deeply listens and asks questions journeying with you as you grow in relationship with the Divine.
Many people have an image of God that is harsh, judgmental, and unforgiving rather than a God of love, forgiveness, compassion; a God that frees us from our harsh critical self. God loves us just the way we are at this moment in time. Even in the midst of our questions, struggles, grief and pain He wants us to experience peace, beauty and joy. He is our companion helping to sustain us, giving us hope, and abundant blessings even in the midst of tragedy.
God is a God of infinite possibilities. We humans box ourselves in confining and limiting ourselves. There is so much more that God wants us to experience and to be. God is a God of wonder, awe, beauty, and creativity. Just look at the world around you, at creation; the diversity, the abundance, the interconnectedness of all things. Just as in all of creation, we are interconnected with all things in a loving, mutually supportive relationship. God wants us to see ourselves and everything else, as part of the Divine. Everything is holy, valuable, necessary, and sacred.
Spiritual direction helps you to become more attentive noticing things below the surface beyond the obvious; to look deeper for meaning in all things, experiences, encounters and even within yourself. This deeper look takes you beyond the everyday ordinariness, frustrations and suffering to empathy and compassion for yourself and others, which then allows you to respond in a more loving, caring, compassionate way.
As you grow into a deeper more personal relationship with God, you come see yourself and your place within the world in a new light. Indeed, God does find joy and rapture in each one of us.