Portrait of A Trained Spiritual Director

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At the second Symposium for trainers of spiritual directors,
Burlingame, CA, 1990, LOWell G]endon, a Participant, WaS
handicapped and mentally retarded adults in a rehabilitation
asked to listen to the presenters and to the discussion among the
Center. This environmenl which is replete with treatment goals
trainers and summarize what he had heard into a ``portraiL Of a
Certainly adds a new dimeusion to guiding my clients with the
trained spiritual director.,, The fol】owmg lS an edited transcrlPt
ultimate goal of union with God! While I have the freedom to
Of his re皿arks a=he end of this Symposium.
I am currentIy offe血g spiritual direction to physicalIy
expIore this spiritua] dimension in my work’I a皿also respon-
Several times these days, along wilh narratives of miracu】ous
Sible for no血g concrete i皿PrOVementS in the area of hu皿an
PrOClamation and in[elleclual stimulation, both of which we
have heard, there is also a suggeslion ofbeing incbriated, SOme
With my co-WOrkers. So I am constantly exa皿inmg the process
development which can be shared in a lreatment vocabulary
loss ofconlrol, a lack ofclear focus, and a sense of abandon [o
Of spiritual development and observmg the ways in which it
unbridled forces.
relates to human development. Fro皿my eXPerience as both a
Consider these two images or metaphors:
rehabilitation professional and a spiritual director’I agree with
Symposium a drinking party at which there was inteliectual
Gerald May when he asserts in PILGRIMAGE HOME that
discussion.
PSyChoIogy and spirituality are different ways ofthinking about
Acts 2: 13 before the night ofPentecost; a WOrk ofGod: ``what
the same rea]ity. As =ead directees/clients in the jouney of
does this mean?…but others said sco餓ngly, ``lhey have had too
discovering the vocation which God has called them to, I find that
_muCh wine.’’
many of the goals se( by the psychoIogists are being met in the
The image from A蛙SuggeSts forces of a creative and
blessed nature. This may help us capture this event: this
PreSentation reflects what porlraits have been emerglng aS We
ProCeSS:血this paper I explore the integration of psychoIogy and
SPirituality in the spiritual developmen申∞eSS Of my directees.
I face two main challenges. Firs( Ofall, I need to maintain the
focus of my directees on their spiritual life and not allow the
Pray, Share, and search.
Ye=here is another dimeusion beyond anylhing we can
focus of our sessious to become their psycho-SOCial develop-
manage to say- We have been gathered here by God,s ownplan,
menL Second]y’I am challenged to remain process-Oriented血
tra血ed more by grace than by programs. We understand one
accordance wilh the work of the Holy Spirit and no( SuCCeSS-
another’s diverse languages and see in our various centers and
Oriented with the obligation of producing resuIts.
Our StruCtureS and in our lives the common proclamation of a
I would like to examine four factors as they relate to my
risen Christ alive and at work in women and men. Our entire
ministry of spiritual direction in the context of rehabilitation:
enterprlSe is God’s work and therefore unmeasurable,
Instilling of Hope, Sense of Meaning, Autruism and Interper-
inarliculable and ulterly mysterious in i‘s餌Iness.
SOnaI Leaming・ (Eugene Geromel’s article, “Deplh Therapy and
So, aS We PrOCeed through this mommg W皿the task of
Spiritual Direclion,,, first applied these curative factors from Dr.
SOmehow surfacing standards for training prograus, I bclieve
Irwin Yalom’s book, THE THEORY AND PRACTICE OF
We are Called at depth lo remain in touch wi[h what escapes our
grasp and challenges us to a respectful and gracious unknowing;
a holy agnosticism, nOI indifference to the search, but rather the
GROUP PSYCHOTH]…RAPY to spiritual direction; Geromel,
``Depth Therapy and Spiritual Dir∞tion,,, Review for Religious’
Vo1 36, pP・ 753-763, 1977・) co〃I庇d on Page4
grace餌and honest result of a ques=hat brings us together,
●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
SOmeWhat breathless and speechless, into the holy of holies.
O SchoIa〇・Ships foI. SYM町OS重UM AND '
I hope to invite us to flow between knowledge and mystery,
・ CON町皿は皿NC細,重993,租富e租V租il軸心萱e暮o ●
霊詰謀議議書豊ds and the ≡ ￣ ￣-￣￣￣五言面詰孟豪富
Con高ルedonpage2 ・・・●●●●・●・●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●
I'o置・山租il or ^ TI.握血e億SpI置・ilual聯l.CClol.
Co証刑ed♪■Om page I
- discernlng mind and heart accurately
To facilitate this, I wi11 share with you what I have heard us say
a trained spiritual dircctor looks like, but remember we have said
- unmaSking apparcnt realities
that much ofthis portrait escapes the training processcs we work so
- Willing to be affected and changed by the direction
relationship itself
hard to develop. After I share my reflectionswith you’I will set up
a process ofrcflection, Sharing and large-grOuP listcnings. I trust,
- knowing and exploring o。e’s assumptions and their eifects
somehow, Our SOber discussions will be dcepened and cnrichcd by
- SenSmg Cultural and social恥ers to recognizing God,s
a corporate splrlt incbriated by thc cup of our sharCd covcnant
WOrk with thc directee
・ baIancing the roles of co・disciplelcompanion and mentor or
experience ofthe totally imminent, tOtally transcendcnt’and totally
什ec God.
director in lhe埴eral sense ofthe word
- discovcrlng and using ski11s as a helpeⅢistcner.
I havc dividcd this portrait into four areas which ccIcbratc lhat
a director is: (1) gifted in nature, (2) gi允ed in grace, (3) growing
Adirecto「 is
increasingly competent, and (4) before, during, and a軸er called by
4) CALLED BY GOD
God. These divisions may be arbitrary and ovcrlap, but I believe
and knows
they are_ gleaned fromずesentations; Pa脈ls, S肺唯;軸でrprayerこ
- an inl所.sense of萄喜r_￣￣￣￣￣￣￣ ￣-￣
- Outer manifestations of call, eSPeCially being sought out by
Please be particularly attentive to which ofthcsc God is devclOPlng ln yOu. Herc’s the portrait. A spirituaI director is:
Others and a鮒med by others in ministry. Directors, like all
l) GIFTED IN NATURE
Christians, are also called to belong to some specific and
- Wilh mature証叩erSOnal skjlls
identifiable community or body of people.
- 1istcns with a disccrning hcart
It secms like a lot. But isn’t il whatwe hope to see in a director?
- insplrCS and dese「vcs tIuSt
What is negotiablc? On】y God ∞uld fu皿1 this po巾ait, and, ifthis
- CarCS and wcIcomes
is巾e’bcing a director is truly a miraculous reality. I scnse that
- uSeS imaglnalion to see what God can do in peopIc.
most ofus havc expcrienced most of these quaIities, gifts and skH1s
A spi「itual directo「 is
Io some degrce. So ownlng the ca11ing of dircctor is also a
2) GIFTED IN GRACE
miraculous realily.
・ authcntic, genuine, SPiritual, holy
As I have hcard us, We have said thc lralnlng PrOgramS Can best
- broken and vulnerable before the mystery in life
addrcss #2, GIF’IED IN GRACE, and so, GROWING INCREAS-
- Selfaware with incrcaslng Self-knowledge
INGLY COMPETENT. We can address these pr血arily by facili-
- docile to the work ofthc HoIy Spirit
tation and discerrment and seconda∫ily’through impa証ng and
- COuragCOuS CnOugh to walk into the dark placcs of soul
tcaching.
As trainers, WC COuld discuss these, COrreCt, add, Subtract, refine
WOrk,
and a spiritual dircctor
the language and grid, and then sct standards.
I would suggcst a diffcrcnt ncxt sIcp. We might remain cIoser
●PrayS
- 1ivcs falth and can articulatc rcligious cxpcriencc
to lhc mystcrious work of God ifwe bcgin by reflec血g on this
・ nOtices and can name the movements of the Holy Spirit
queslion:
“As you lisIcncd to lhose qualitics, g「aCeS, Ski置ls, Call-Which
- reSP錐tSへGod’s work and freedom in the directee.
(In all charact諒cs under this heading we presuppose that the
OneS do you sense Godha読aredP猫i前置甜yT両evelop ln yOu? Be
director is a disciple of Jesus Christ and is in ongolng SPlrltual
in touch with a certain grace and history ofyour own training as a
direction.)
director and lhe surprlSeS Ofthisjoumey. Remember that the artist
A sp蘭ual director is
Of this portrait is always God. Cherish the qualities panicularly
Valued by God.
3) GROWING INCREASINGLY COMPETENT
as an cffcclive agen[ of thc tradition
[Lowell concluded with an excrcise that a local spiritual direc-
- distinguishing practica11y and thcorctica]1y betwccn
tors peer group or reglOnal mce血g might use. He invited partici-
PSyChothcrapy and splritual direction, PSyChoIogy and
Sp証ua航y,
- conlinulng tO grOW in knowIcdgc of thcoIogy, SCriplurc, the
giftcdncss, lakc twenty minu置es ofindividual quic=o re組cct, Share
PantS Io lisIcn to the list as it was read,jot down areas ofthcir own
in small groups for hal「an hour (noting similarities and diffcrcnccs
among group mcmbers) and finally galhcring in a largc group to
wisdom of the spiritual t「adition
- enlarglng a holistic sense and knowIedge of the spiritual
refinc a group portraiしHe suggcsted lhis could move a discussion
Ofs置andards forward without moving away from the mystcry.]
」Ou重ney
- Welcomlng ncW Varieties of religious experiences and
Lo14’e// G/eIldo句a Skyicia〃 priesI a毒ac互uepa所c巾a証n偽e
integrating them into the tradition
ル5IルOみ,”POSia佃r Irα高e竹q毎〆riI胸/ direcIor5; WaS “nab/e Io
・ drawlng On insights from contemporary human scienccs
aI/end CoI昨rence 4
- faci】itatlng nOn-Verbal ar[iculations of rcliglOuS CXPCricncc
die〔I高Ba雄朋ore o〃んg鵬1 10.
2
d 5y′I叩OS最m, 1992,んe Io f肋ess・ Lowel/