Author: Jonny N
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Concluding — drawing the spiritual direction to a close
Some spiritual direction relationships last a few months and others many years. However long the relationship, there will come a time when it does feel right to draw things to a close. These endings and changes are normal and expected and are appropriate for a variety of reasons. You might be entering a new season…
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Reviewing — how is the spiritual direction going?
From time to time it can be helpful consider these questions as you review how the spiritual direction relationship is serving you. If you find it helpful, you can bring any of these as a reflection point to spiritual direction conversation. How do I feel before, during and after the meeting for spiritual direction? What…
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Preparing for spiritual direction
To make the most of spiritual direction sessions the following suggestions are recommended: Think of the session as a sacred time to meet with God (that will be your directors desire also). So it’s advisable tofind a quiet, comfortable undisturbed place to meet, and eliminate distractions. The ability to give your full attention to the…
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When you feel like you’ve lost God…
“I saw it for what it really was. In a dark night of the soul, you feel like you’ve lost God. You haven’t. Rather, you’ve lost all the little gods to which you were attached and to which you’d assigned lordship. Then what you’re left with is a void, but it’s not a void that…
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Only then will you know…
Clearing by Martha Postlewaite Do not try to savethe whole worldor do anything grandiose.Instead, createa clearingin the dense forest of your lifeand wait there patiently,until the songthat is your lifefalls into your own cupped handsand you recognize and greet it.Only then will you knowhow to give yourselfto this worldso worthy of rescue. ‘Clearing’ by Martha…
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Our vocation hidden in the ‘where’ and ‘who’ of our lives
Often we want to be somewhere other than where we are, or even to be someone other than who we are. We tend to compare ourselves constantly with others and wonder why we are not as rich, as intelligent, as simple, as generous, or as saintly as they are. Such comparisons make us feel guilty,…
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Dark/Advent
Uncouth shepherds,esoteric scholars,restless groom,hidden womb, open to the mystery of the night, messages of the holy. What do you see,what do you hear,in the dark? With thanks to Brian Draper for his Advent reflections and prompting me to return to Luke Sital-Singh’s song: ‘Dark’ (based in Martin Wroe’s poem of the same name).
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Become and becoming
Our life and how we live in the world now and in the future is, almost totally, a result of what we have become in the depths of our being – in our spirit, will or heart. That is where we understand our world and interpret reality. From there we make our choices, act and…
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Autumn light—Slowing down and noticing
The earth revolves around the sun, and every day the light from the sun hits the earth at a different angle. Auggie, Smoke (by Paul Auster, 1995) I’ve been enjoying the way the warm autumn light illuminates the world test last couple of weeks. The way the colour of the leaves is given luminance by…
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Serenity prayer
The Serenity Prayer is attributed to the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. It was was adopted and popularised twelve-step programs, and has been used in churches across the world. I particularly appreciate the most well-known version of the prayer with its later inclusion of the word “grace”. I find the prayer helpful particularly after I’ve given…