You can ask this question to a handful of folks and get many different viewpoints, because spiritual direction is like looking into a beautiful gemstone and seeing how the light jumps around in all its brilliance. This is the beauty of spiritual direction, because we can see that light through the diversity of so many different facets. Together through the art of spiritual direction we discover that our beautiful stories are truly heard, deeply listened to, and shared in a noninvasive way. I practice spiritual direction through my faith, compassion, wisdom, and love. In spiritual direction our awareness shifts to discovering the holy and the mystical in our everyday lives, thus drawing us closer to God. 
 
Spiritual direction can help bring us more fully into our awareness of God’s love and can help us to love ourselves more gently and deeply in self-acceptance of our own humanity. This is how Spiritual Director, Henry Nouwen puts it, “Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that declares we are loved. Being the Beloved expresses the core truth of our existence.”^[1] Spiritual direction is focused on unfolding, healing, and celebrating that core of belovedness that is the Holy light of our being. In this awareness we can learn to approach our life through this lens of spiritual formation. We can shift our world view and see through the lens of our own contemplative spiritual view. 
 
My personal style that I bring to spiritual direction includes being open hearted and grounded in the belief we are all beloved in God’s good creation. Therefore, compassion, worthiness, and sacredness are always present in my approach to spiritual direction. I bring a deep awareness of the depths of how suffering shows up in our lives. I have witnessed the ways we can find God in all this chaos. So, I hold out the hands of hope and peace even as we may feel like we are drowning in our pain. I am firmly anchored in God’s power and mercy. And I bring those qualities forward into every moment of silence. I intentionally have many moments of silence and stillness in the sessions, because God is our director and always present in that silence.  (Return to the Home Page)


^[1] Adesanya, Ineda Pearl. Kaleidoscope: Broadening the Palette in the Art of Spiritual Direction. New York: Church Pub Inc, 2019. p 44.