Spiritual Directors International is proud to announce the newest book in the SDI Imprint series:

Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction (A Spiritual Directors International Book by Betsey Beckman and Christine Valters Paintner, 2010.

Book Description
This new resource is designed to help spiritual directors and others use expressive arts in the context of spiritual direction. It is the latest book in the unique SDI series, designed for spiritual directors, but also useful for clergy, therapists, and spiritual formation and religious education specialists.

Reviews

• "... [A]n inspiring and regenerating piece of work that teaches the intrinsic significance of the arts and the value of engaging body, mind and spirit in creative pursuit of awakening the Holy that resides within." --Rebecca Bradburn Langer, D Min, Adjunct Faculty, San Francisco Theological Seminary Program in Christian Spirituality, spiritual director, pastor, and teacher of supervisors in "Together In The Mystery" with Dr. Maria Tattu Bowen.

• "Christine Valters Paintner and Betsey Beckman showcase the gifts of storytelling, imagination, dance, visual art, music, movement, poetry and presence. Through a gentle weaving of their insightful work, with reflections from workshop participants and the community of spiritual directors, the authors prepare a dazzling palette for discovery and deepening." -- Marianne Hieb, RSM, ATR, MFA, DMin, Director of Lourdes Wellness Spirituality Program, and author of Inner Journeying through Art-Journaling.

• "I put this at the top of the list as required reading for spiritual directors and spiritual formation classes. The clear, foundational writing introduces 'art in service to the soul.' Brimming with multiple art forms, we get to hear the voices of [spiritual] directors and [spiritual] directees who are profoundly affected by the arts. This book is the next best thing to learning directly from such wise, inspiring teachers." -- Cynthia Winton-Henry, cofounder of InterPlay®, author of Dance--A Sacred Art, and What the Body Wants.

• "Replete with exercises, examples, stories, and resources, Awakening the Creative Spirit offers the most comprehensive guide to date on how to develop the `spark of divine creativity' embedded in us all. Those of us engaged in teaching the art of spiritual direction will find in it a beautiful introduction to the arts as the `language of the soul.'" --Mary Rose Bumpus, RSM, PhD, Assistant Professor of Spirituality, School of Theology and Ministry Seattle University.

• "We have been far too left-brained, verbal, and linear in our attempts to transform and mature actual people--intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. Here we have two women filling the tragic gap--and beautifully so! Spiritual direction is the growing edge of ministry today and this excellent book will surely direct that growth." -- Father Richard Rohr, OFM

• "Word, image, music, dance: this book provides a rich vocabulary for entering more deeply into conversation and communion with the One who gives us the arts as path to knowing God." -- Jan Richardson, artist and author, In Wisdom's Path: Discovering the Sacred in Every Season.

Please share your review about Awakening the Creative Spirit: Bringing the Arts to Spiritual Direction (A Spiritual Directors International Book) by adding a comment to this blog.

Click here to learn about additional titles in the SDI imprint series.

 

 Would you like to...

• Learn and meditate in places holy to Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
• Walk in the steps of our past to discover fuller dimensions of our present
• Honor Place, Celebrate Presence, Become More Fully Alive

Join Guides: Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon, Sheikh Jamal Rahman (The Interfaith Amigos)
Spiritual Directors International Host: Rev. Terry Moran
Local Host: Canon Iyad Qumri, Christian Palestinian Guide

Opportunity to Walk as Interfaith Spiritual Companions
Whether this is your first time to Israel and Palestine or you have visited many times, this pilgrimage is unique. Our pilgrimage guides and hosts bring sacred gifts for telling stories about spiritual companionship, and we are blessed with their abilities to speak many languages (The pilgrimage will be conducted in English, and our guides also speak Arabic, French, Hebrew, Italian, and Spanish). We will walk slowly through the streets of Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Safed, the home of Jewish mystics. We will journey to the Dead Sea and have the option to swim — or really float — and benefit from the healing properties of Dead Sea mud. We will journey to the Mount of Beatitudes and Korazim for meditation and prayer.

Click here for full details, costs, FAQ, schedule, registration details, and more. 

 

 

“I see you,” Jake says to the tall, blue-skinned, native woman, Neytiri, in the futuristic, sci-fi epic movie Avatar. The greeting implies a connection beyond seeing with only the eyes. Much like the Indian Sanskrit greeting, “Namasté” which means “I bow reverentially to you,” the phrase “I see you” is used throughout the film to communicate a deep respect for the whole being. Not only does Jake learn to truly see Neytiri, but he also learns that deep-seeing leads to revering the interconnectedness in all of life.

My favorite scene involves Jake visiting the Tree of Souls. As a former Marine who is a wheelchair user, Jake becomes more and more involved with Neytiri and the plight of her people. He receives encouragement from Grace, a scientist who works on the “Avatar” project. In the film, he is forced to choose between following corporate orders to destroy a forest or helping the native Na'vi people. At a loss for how to help, he visits the Tree of Souls in the faraway world of Pandora, seeking connection and to be seen as his true self. It’s such an uncharacteristically Marine and corporate male thing to do: Jake the hero pleads for spiritual guidance from a tree and from a strong native woman, Neytiri. I loved it! 

Australia member Jack Stuart recently sent me his thoughts about the film, “In light of Marysville and Black Saturday, I found Avatar a fascinating movie that has a strong element of caring for our planet and at times calls for a contemplative approach to our living. I'm not too sure if the makers realised this. [Carl] Jung said that often we are not aware initially of the import of what we say or do.”

In spiritual direction, we listen with more than our ears. We listen with our hearts for the whole being of the people we companion. We offer the opportunity to be seen and to be heard.

What a privilege to live in a time when the ministry of spiritual direction is “being seen” by more and more people, thanks to helpful media coverage like the brand new PBS Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly television program. Like Jake, people want to learn about spirituality and be truly seen and heard. Thank you for helping people awaken to the connections among seeing, listening, and tending the sacred in all of life.

 

 

Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly features "February 26, 2010: Spiritual Directors" showcasing spiritual direction, prayer, and members of Spiritual Directors International. Airs Friday, February 26 through Monday, March 1, 2010, showing on almost all PBS stations. You will also be able to see it streaming on the RENW Web site after approximately 7:00 p.m. EST on Friday, February 26, 2010. 

 

• "February 26, 2010: Spiritual Directors" episode with video, text, and photographs.
  
  
• The show is available in a videocast and podcast through iTunes. To download the episode go to the Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly homepage. In the right column, locate and click the button for either "Watch Now" or "ListenNow" to link to the appropriate site.
  
  To learn when the show will play in your locale, click this PBS link: Check your local listings to see when Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly airs in your area.
  
  

A little background:
Filming in Seattle, Washington, USA
In November 2009, PBS Religion and Ethics NewsWeekly came to Seattle, Washington, to film a story about prayer and spiritual direction. PBS filmed interviews, a retreat, a spiritual direction session, and a seminary "Introduction to Spiritual Direction" class. Why? To tell the story of how people are learning to pray and how spiritual direction contributes to cultivating prayer and compassion in communities. SDI shares the story and photographs of filming in this blog post: "How Do People Pray Today? Where Do People Learn to Pray?"

Thank you to everyone who participated in the filming, production, and editing process.

We pray that the message of the PBS television segment will embrace people of all faiths. We pray this film will communicate the power that prayer and spiritual direction offer for healing, for nourishing exhausted hearts, for building capacity for compassion in community, and for connecting us with the source of compassion and peace. We pray the segment will provide encouragement and hope for the weary and downtrodden.

Please tune in, and share what you think about the show.

Ann Rodgers, reporter for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, offers an invitation to spiritual seekers: "Ashes, which many Christians will receive on their foreheads today to mark the beginning of Lent, are intended to encourage repentance and renewal. Those who want guidance in that process can turn to spiritual directors. Most clergy aren't spiritual directors and not all spiritual directors are clergy. They have special training in guiding others into a deeper life of prayer and in seeking God's will."

Exploring reasons why a person might seek spiritual direction, and how to locate a spiritual director, Rodgers interviews Sister Ardath C. Blake, HM, an active member of Spiritual Directors International, Liz Ellmann, executive director of Spiritual Directors International, Dr. Susan Muto, and Rev. Graham Standish. Excellent insights about spiritual direction are offered, and include:

"Praying from the heart can be difficult for those raised primarily on memorized prayers." --Sister Ardath C. Blake, HM

"Life-changing events--such as a serious illness--can lead people to seek spiritual direction. And over the past year, job loss has had a similar effect. People are asking, is the work I was doing really my calling?" --Liz Ellmann

"You don't entrust your soul to just anybody, you need to make sure they've got a good background and didn't just go to a summer camp for spiritual directors." --Susan Muto

To read the entire article, click here: "More People Turning to Spiritual Directors: Specialists provide guidance to those seeking deeper faith."

 

 

Spiritual Directors International is grateful to reporter Ann Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette for helping to educate everyone about the ministry and service of spiritual direction. Thank you!

Please contribute to the conversation by adding your comments to this blog post.

Wednesday, 17 February, marks Ash Wednesday, when the Season of Lent begins for Christians. What makes Ash Wednesday and Lent significant, year after year?

A Christian Response
I engage in daily prayer and meditation. Over dozens of years, a variety of spiritual practices have, at one time or another, given life, been shed, and occasionally re-embraced. A consistent thread is to make deliberate time periods for intentional reflection and turning toward God. Why is this important? In this time of my life I want to be a whole person, delightfully alive, and hallowed into radical authenticity and vivid presence. I know that God unabashedly loves me—and everyone who I desire to serve with mutuality, friendship, and compassionate care. I want to participate as fully as I can in God's ongoing love affair with humanity and all of the cosmos.

Spirituality is not a separate part of who I am every day—it is embodied and experienced through my senses and life particulars. I welcome the defined time period of Lent to turn to God with my whole self. This turning is ultimately toward the world.

An Olympic Story
Tonight I watched Olympic figure skating, pondered Lent, and allowed the Hebrew Scripture, “Return to me with your whole heart” (Jl 2:12) to glide within me. I looked at ice dancers become grace in motion—turning, spinning, twirling, arching, moving towards, away, tucking and reaching. I visually experienced the spiritual journey. Surely it encompasses all these moves. We are not meant to be spectators in life! We are invited to engage, participate, train, fall, glide, spin, embrace, and turn towards one another and God. Music dances through our soul, as rhythm glides into expression in our body and daily life.

Spiritual Guidance
Ash Wednesday and Lent invite a fresh turning—or return—to God’s embrace. As much as each of us is on a solitary journey, it is also communal. Meeting with a spiritual director can encourage genuine seeking and conversion. During spiritual direction we are accompanied in our turning to God with our whole heart, broken heart, or dancing heart.

Will you join me in turning toward spiritual practice, a daily discipline, and a radical acceptance of wholeness and connection with all of creation? Lent can spring the frozen places in our heart and actions, thaw our resistance to compassionate love, and grow our sacred dance with the Beloved.  

If you are seeking a spiritual director to accompany you, click here to discover good questions and spiritual directors to interview through the online, searchable: Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors.

Pegge Bernecker is the editor Listen: A Seekers Resource for Spiritual Direction, published by Spiritual Directors International. To read more articles like this one, check out past issues of Listen, or click here to request your free quarterly Listen subscription.

Photos from Google images.

I ask for your supportive prayer as I prepare for left knee surgery on 3-3-10. I have been & continue to trust in our loving GOD. The knee is important but it is surrounded by a live sciatica nerve & other complications. I am trusting in the Infinte One to take care of it all. I feel his Presence deeply but sometimes lose my focus. Sending Light & Energy my way will be appreciative from all of you. Blessings, Joan

 

Enrichment, Formation and Training Program Locator

Are you searching for a program to learn about spiritual direction, or receive formation, training, or enrichment opportunities? Finding a program to discern your call to the ministry and service of spiritual direction is an important part of your spiritual journey. If possible, you might want to contact several programs to determine which one is right for you.

Spiritual Directors International provides the best Web site in the world to locate a program or institution, with the specific criteria that you seek.

Each of these links provides valuable tips or searchable maps. Simply click on the highlighted text.

Helpful tips when it is time to research, choose, and interview potential spiritual direction formation and training programs.

The SDI interactive Google map allows you to search anywhere in the world for an "Enrichment, Formation, or Training" program for spiritual directors or guides.

Suggestions about how to use the Enrichment, Formation, and Training Program Locator map.

"What is Spiritual Direction?"

Are you a trainer? Add your Enrichment, Formation or Training Program to the SDI Web site locator.

SDI is committed to providing excellent educational resources. Please comment about what you find helpful, and what you want more of!

A member of Spiritual Directors International, Alexander J. Shaia, PhD, contributes a "Guest Voice" to the On Faith blog at The Washington Post! He is one of the plenary keynote presenters during the SDI "Gratefulness: The Heart of Spiritual Care" educational events in San Francisco, California, USA.

Writing for our times with a fresh understanding of Christian gospels, Shaia explains in "Where is God Now" post:

But there are four paths to the journey; moving through suffering is only one. We know that there are times in our past and there will be times in our future characterized by stability and then change. We also know there are great moments of epiphany and joy. But in between, there are times of trial and suffering, and we all know that in those times, it can feel like it is overwhelming, never-ending, and that there is now way out.

Click here to read the full article, "Where is God Now?"

Come to San Francisco in April 2010 to learn with Dr. Shaia and all the other stellar presenters and attendees!

I used to think that spiritual directors were for clergy and students at seminary school. Over the past few years, however, I've learned that spiritual direction is a time honored tradition for anyone who wants to grow spiritually. As with coaches, it is important pick one whose strengths match your needs. (Not only is a hockey coach of little use to a golf player, but even a life coach or business coach needs proficiency in your areas of concern. Likewise, different Spiritual Directors will be of more or less help throughout your journey...) And, as they say, when the student is ready, the teacher will come.

I first enlisted the aid of a spiritual director when I was planning on going to Germany. While there were many things I was giving up (including my faith community and especially EfM (Education for Ministry)), I was looking forward to the opportunity to study Reformation history and visit cathedrals in Europe. I wanted someone to keep me accountable to my goals and help me to process where my journey led. I didn't get to move to Germany last year, but my life has moved through many challenges and (on days when I can set aside my impatience) I am generally amazed by how much I've learned and grown during this time. Through most of the past year, I met with my spiritual director (almost monthly) and we explored the new places my spiritual journey was taking me. (Fortunate for me, she has also provided sage professional coaching during these long months where my career sits poised on the edge of so much opportunity and challenge...) Perhaps my most significant epiphany in 2009 was the realization that my life is truly integrated and different parts are interconnected in ways I hadn't seen previously.

I no longer view my life as secular versus spiritual and the old "us vs them" philosophy (which I find to be a common worldview in our culture) is antithematic to who I am now. I can finally see where the gifts God has given me are brought into their fullness when used wisely throughout all aspects of my life - day or night...Sunday or any day...at church, home, work or in the world at large - and that I am happiest when I share my time and talent among many varied interests. EfM played a pivotal role in my development and I carry the tools I've learned there with me into other areas of my life. The "exercise" of Theological Reflection (TR) is an excellent example. I've never been one to make rash decisions. That's not to say that my decisions don't seem rash at times, but that's because I'm a very analytical person and I've usually given a great deal of thought to a problem or scenario I've already seen coming, when others involved are usually unaware and caught off-guard. But spiritual direction (and the reading, self-exploration, retreats and prayer practices which go hand-in-hand with SD) have given me a new way to "analyze" and "reflect" on my life.

When my spiritual director asked a few months ago what I get out of spiritual direction, I offered that these sessions were like "Weigh Stations" in my journey... Like any long haul trucker, you need to stop and refuel, but it would be dangerous to just "gas and go." (I'll keep this metaphor focused on the mechanics of the vehicle for I am still a "drive thru" omnivore and my spiritual growth hasn't quite worked through that problem...yet.) It's important to check under the hood and walk around the vehicle, verifying that everything is in working order and prepared for the "little bumps along the highway." If your tires are low on air or almost treadbare, a little pothole along the road could make for a major calamity. Or you may start your journey with a clean windshield, but a few bugs or bird droppings can totally obscure your vision if your reservior isn't filled and ready to clear up the situation. Likewise, having these periodic opportunities to examine the workings of our spiritual life help us to know that we are prepared for the little bumps which might come are way or (when we're not) help us to get prepared in case they occur. Of course, there are some things for which we cannot truly prepare. But routine maintenance of our spiritual toolbox will help us to trust that we are in good hands - both metaphorically and practically speaking, through our faith community. It's been a few months since I've met with my spiritual director (We've both been very busy with life and the holidays...), but routine maintenance keeps things humming along nicely. In many ways, the experience of sharing with a SD has made it easier to share with others. And, as a life long learner and seeker, I am always stretching myself with new challenges and opportunities.

--Heather Hall
Submitted to Stories via the SDI BLOG

 

 

Sometimes my heart aches. I need to cry, yet I can’t access the tears welling up behind my eyes and surrounding my heart. I know a deep cry would help me connect with God, yet I can’t remember how.

I had one of those experiences during the Parliament of the World’s Religions in December. Presence editorial review panelist, Jack Stuart  graciously drove me many miles north of Melbourne, Australia to visit SDI member, Diana Cherry, who survived the devastating bushfires of Black Saturday (February 7, 2009). Scores of people died. Only seven homes remain in Diana’s community where hundreds of families used to live. Diana and her husband Ed  told the story of the roaring fire that swallowed up their community. In the aftermath of horrific tragedy, they are--one day at a time--spiritually companioning their devastated community through death into life.  

My heart ached when Diana took us to a ridge lookout. We saw charred forests and burnt homes for many kilometres in every direction. Peculiar, rotting smells of death entered my nose and heart. A sooty black picnic table where friends once shared laughter entered my sight and soul. An uneasy silence entered my ears and hung in the air where brilliantly colored parrots and bright-white cockatoos normally would be heard squawking in the treetops.

“Forgive us for we know not what we do.”
I prayed to the trees with my broken heart. I tried to pray for the arsonist who ignited the fires, and quickly realized I was too sad and in shock to pray for the perpetrator. How could someone do this to the helpless neighbors of Diana and Ed, including the powerless trees, wombats, wallabies, koalas, and lyrebirds that they dearly love? Inaccessible tears pooled behind my eyes.

As we left the ridge, I noticed stringy, peeling bark in a grove of scorched gum trees. Grateful to be with fellow spiritual companions, we paused together to watch the long strands of hanging bark gently blow in the wind . The trees were shedding their layers of protection, trusting that new bark would grow. Their compassion was palpable, each tree being present to the other, teaching me to trust the love in heartache and loss, bringing my tears closer to the surface.

Dead bark quietly and tenderly wafted in the wind, reminding me of Tibetan prayer flags, sending blessings on the breeze. In that moment, my heart opened to the love, resilience, and grace of the gum trees, reconnecting me to the cycle of life. Together we listened to the prayers of the trees, and the trees listened to our prayers, dissolving in the wind, filling all spaces with an eternal love found in the gift of communal heartache and tears.

How do you listen with compassion to the heartache and gift of tears of your own life and the lives of people you accompany in spiritual direction?

Especially after the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, how are you caring for your sensitive heart and journeying with others who may be struggling to make meaning in the aftershocks of heart-wrenching destruction?

In the comments section on the blog, please share your thoughts.

Top photo:Diana Cherry and Presence journal editorial review panelist, Jack Stuart.

Middle photo: Scorched gum trees.

Bottom photo: Diana and Ed Cherry.

Spiritual Directors International is educating the public about listening with compassion, around the world and across traditions. Check out the blog, Facebook, or Twitter to see where.

On Saturday, January 30, 2010, the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Bethesda, Maryland, held a contemplative leadership day. There were 20-25 of us in attendance on what turned out to be a very snowy Saturday on the next-to-last day in January.

Among our discussions on the qualities of contemplative leadership, I was given insight that the goal of the spiritual life is to someday let go of spiritual practices and disciplines we use to ground ourselves on the journey, and to have prayer become as our breath--part of our very being, infused into our total awareness. In the afternoon, our discussion shifted to the counter-cultural nature of contemplative leadership, and we partnered with another person to flesh out the resistance felt when we become too focused on our agendas against the counter-culture or when we allow ourselves to be grounded in our contemplative practice despite the resistance. Physically, there was much strain felt in the muscles as we focused our agendas symbolically with our arms outstretched against the resistance of our partner's hands pushing downward on our limbs. However, when we later grounded our focus into our feet and relaxed our upper resistance, though there was still resistance, it did not have the same strain on the muscles. And what about our peripheral vision, we were asked. Well, when doggedly focused on our agendas in the expression of our outstretched arms, our peripheral visions were cut off. We were not aware of those around us and how they may be affected by our focus. However, when grounding ourselves in our feet, our vision opened, as the muscles in our arms became full and more relaxed.

What does this mean when we are working with others on a project where there is resistance from within the team, or when we are going through the motions of loving acceptance and peace with others, although deep inside, we do not like members of our team or just one other with whom we have to work? Well, I've been there, and I believe the effort to show a stance of acceptance and love, even when at odds with the facts of our inner state, is indeed a spiritual practice, just as much as any discipline of prayer. Though our head does not connect immediately to our heart, our intent is to live the practice until we can let go and join the two without effort. Meanwhile, in the practice, we ground ourselves in Trust that a Infinite Mystery knows us deeply and cares for our well being. That is the shift that changes the resistance in practicing contemplative leadership. When our focus is doggedly set on just pretending to love against the resistance of our inner truth, we are worn down and discouraged. However, when we ground ourselves in Trust, the resistance is shifted. Our focus is now on practicing our deepest values in the hope of someday joining head and heart, and we are grounded in our Sacred Trust of the outcome brought forth by a loving and faithful Presence beyond ourselves.

"We are leaders at the point of our gifts, and we are followers at the point of others' gifts." ~Ann Dean, Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation
"Power without love leads to oppression. Love without power lead to sentimentality." ~Richard Rohr
"We are torn loose from earthly attachments and ambitions (contemptus mundi). And we are quickened to a Divine but painful concern for the world -- amor mundi. [God] plucks the world out of our hearts, loosening the chains of attachment. And [God] hurls the world into our hearts, where we and [God] together carry it in infinitely tender love. ~Thomas Kelly
"Something opens our wings. Something makes boredom and hurt disappear. Someone fills the cup in front of us: We taste only sacredness." ~Rumi

SDI member, Therese Taylor-Stinson 

Not one, not two, but THREE new videos in the "SDI Learns From..." educational video series!

Spiritual Directors International is delighted to add videos from Peter Ball and Carol Ludwig; Wil Hernandez, PhD; and Alexandra Kovats, CSJP, to the more than fifteen short educational videos in this series. The videos will help you tell the story of spiritual direction, also known as spiritual companionship, spiritual guidance, and spiritual accompaniment.

Please share these FREE video resources when you teach, via your workshops and online resource links, and with seekers.

Spiritual Directors International learns from Canon Peter Ball and Carol Ludwig: Peter Ball is an Anglican priest living near London, UK, who has authored two books, including the Spiritual Directors International book, Anglican Spiritual Direction. Ludwig co-directs the Center for Spiritual Care in Vero Beach, Florida, USA, and teaches in spiritual director training programs (Audire, Mercy Center Burlingame). Listen to Carol interview Peter and learn what nourishes spiritual directors.

Spiritual Directors International learns from Wil Hernandez, PhD, who conducts retreats, classes, workshops, and seminars all over the country focusing on the spirituality of Henri Nouwen. Hernandez regularly teaches at Fuller Theological Seminary, Azusa Pacific University, Franciscan Renewal Center, and the Center for Religion and Spirituality (Loyola Marymount University). He is the author of Henri Nouwen: A Spirituality of Imperfection and its sequel Henri Nouwen and Soul Care: A Ministry of Integration (Paulist Press).

Spiritual Directors International learns from Alexandra Kovats, CSJP, who teaches at Seattle University in Washington, USA. She shares her understanding of ecological spirituality as it relates to God's peace and the value of spiritual direction. Kovats offers spiritual retreats and spiritual direction around the world. She is a native of Hungary.

Please share these YouTube videos when you teach, via your workshops and online resource links, and with seekers. Offer your comments about who else you want to learn from in this series!

Click here to review the full list of videos in the "SDI Learns From..." educational video series.

Compassionate listening leads to discerned action. The ministry and service of spiritual direction helps people listen and respond to issues of freedom and justice.

Speaking powerfully of the need to serve, to be of service to one another, and in our communities, Martin Luther King, Jr., said:

"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too heavy a burden to bear."

In the past week, notice the discerned action and compassion emerging throughout the world. Sometimes global events, like the earthquake in Haiti, cause us to awaken to needs in our own communities. Sometimes hearing on the radio or television the voice of a prophet, like Martin Luther King, Jr., gives us courage to build relationships, to serve. Wherever you look, notice service and love in action.

What grabs your heart of compassion and moves you to respond?
Take a moment to pause today. Begin by looking at your own life particulars. Notice where you might choose to love more, offer kindness, slow down. What burden can you let go of? Is there somewhere you can decide to stick with love, and respond with service?

Would choosing to serve and act with love heal a relationship and bridge barriers?

If you struggle or ponder how you can respond, explore your questions with a spiritual director.

 

Please share your thoughts or stories of inspiration by adding a comment to this blog post.

 

 

Spiritual Directors International members are featured on the CBS Evening News! Watch "Clerics Seek Peace through Humor, Dialogue" with Pastor Don Mackenzie, Rabbi Ted Falcon, and Imam Jamal Rahman interviewed by CBS News correspondent John Blackstone, December 26, 2009.

Encouraging peace through understanding ... simply click on the photo or this link to view the online video:

Watch the CBS News Video Online

Note: Please practice peace and patience with the CBS video, which includes an advertisement to quit smoking before the video interview of the Interfaith Amigos.

To read the full transcript of the video interview click here: "Clerics Seek Peace through Humor, Dialogue" Pastor, a Rabbi and an Imam - It May Sound Like a Joke Setup, but the "Interfaith Amigos" are Serious about their Mission".

If you like this video, learn more in one of these SDI interviews from the "Spiritual Directors International Learns From..." video series:

• Spiritual Directors International learns from Rabbi Ted Falcon
• Spiritual Directors International learns from Jamal Rahman