Spiritual Discernment
My intention is to provide a safe place in which to reflect on faith questions and discern the signals of divine presence. I meet with those inside, outside or at the edge of the church. Common questions include: What words do I use to talk about this? What is the nature of the divine? How do I connect, pray, meditate? What gets in the way? How do I discern the Spirit's leading? What does it mean to follow it, to ignore it? What does divine love mean, really? Have I gone too far to find my way back? How do I find a faith community?
Christian teachings and spiritual practices form the foundation of my spiritual orientation. I was raised as a Protestant, was enriched through years with Quakers in Meeting for Worship, and benefitted from worship & retreats at Weston Priory, in the Benedictine tradition. I have also been influenced and changed by the understandings and practices of other faith traditions and perspectives, when they share the universal desire for the same treasure, the capacity for justice and love through a faithful relationship with that which created us.
What Does It Look Like?
I generally suggest we meet for 90 minutes, between 3-6 weeks apart, unless you are in the midst of a decision-making time. It is helpful to meet 2 or 3 times, then check on how it’s going. It is not necessary to have experience in a church or faith community to benefit from spiritual discernment. We all have an internal personal theology/cosmology that makes meaning in our lives, and from which we make choices. Spiritual discernment simply brings this internal meaning-making to light, and invokes the presence of the holy as we notice and wonder about what emerges.
Group spiritual direction is a possibility with people who can benefit from the diversity of their experience combined with a common desire for the sacred. I generally suggest moving toward peer leadership over time.
Training
My twenty years of preparation for spiritual discernment comes from training in both individual and group spiritual formation at Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Md. Shalem is an ecumenical, Christian program based heavily on interfaith contemplative practices, both verbal and nonverbal. I am also an Affiliate of the Northeast Guild for Spiritual Formation in Maine, a member of Spiritual Director's International, a monthly spiritual director's peer supervision group as well as my own individual spiritual direction.