What Is Spiritual Direction

My first contact with the Servants of the Holy Heart of Mary occurred twenty-one years ago.  I had just finished cancer treatment.  My faith had deepened significantly during that period and I felt God calling me closer.  I was fortunate enough to come into contact with Sr. Myra Lambert, who invited me to meet with her.  At the end of our hour-long conversation, she asked me if I had a spiritual director.  Thus began a wonderful relationship, although at the moment of my “yes” I wasn’t even sure what a spiritual director was.

So if, like me, you’re wondering what spiritual direction is, the simplest answer is that spiritual direction is the process of sharing with another the events of your life while watching and listening together for God’s presence. Sister Marian Cowan, CSJ defines it this way:

"Spiritual direction is a time-honored term for a conversation, ordinarily between two persons, in which one person consults another, more spiritually experienced person about the ways in which God may be touching her or his life, directly or indirectly.”

The role of the spiritual director is never about telling you what to do or giving advice.  In fact, many directors prefer the title Spiritual Companion because the word “director” sounds like one person giving directions to another, as if they had a map.   Rather, a spiritual director is always aware that it is not his/her job to lead you; that is the work of the Holy Spirit.  Guidance from the director is more likely to be in posing appropriate questions and asking for clarification in an effort to help you explore on a deeper level your experiences and reactions.  In this way, you discover for yourself the ways in which the Spirit is inviting you to grow.  The director can also be of great help by suggesting new ways to pray or books for spiritual reading as ways of deepening your relationship with God.

The gift of spiritual direction is that it leads one to a greater awareness of God’s presence in the everyday events of life and of God’s great love for each of us. The grace that the directee experiences often leads to the healing of old wounds.   And, of course, any time we are open to God’s grace we are gifted with peace.