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

The global community of Spiritual Directors International invites you to pray with  K’T’U, a spiritual director, and notice how your relationship with God or the sacred invites you to respond …

 

 

Prayer for Haiti

Together let us join in prayer
wrap a mantle of compassion upon Haiti
for the babies, sisters, brothers, workers, family, friends, strangers, enemies, animals, and more, more, more who died and will die,
who are wounded and ache
and will ache, suffer,
who grieve, breathe in shock
crawl
paw through the rubble of time
a violent collapse of daily routine.

 

.....


May fresh air breathe with vital necessity.
May we sacrifice and share.
May we enable compassionate action, and service—now. Right now.
May our mantle of compassion console and heal.
And may our prayer build grateful action, life.

--K’T’U, 13 January 2010

 

 

To add your prayers and thoughts please click on "add your comments" below.

In many traditions, to light a candle is considered a sacred action. Add your flame to the "SDI" group and click this link to light a "SDI" candle, in the "SDI" group at gratefulness.org.

Click for Photograph source

Spiritual direction is the featured topic of the Winter 2010 issue of Hope, a publication from The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, in Indiana, USA. In this issue, Connie Schnapf, a member of Spiritual Directors International, describes spiritual direction as "a gift you give yourself." You can read the feature article, "Spiritual Direction: You Are Not Alone," discover how spiritual direction has aided the faith journey of several women, learn about the role of doubt, and peruse additional articles and suggested resources. Sister Catherine Livers explains, “In our spiritual journeys, we are always growing, we are always learning more and more about God’s love and grace.” Sharing about her experience of spiritual direction, Vanita Moore says,

“After meeting with Sister Catherine [Livers] for two or three times, I remember looking at her and smiling and I said, ‘I really like spending this time with you. I feel like I can ask you anything and talk to you about anything and you’re not trying to fix me.’ And she laughed and smiled great big and said, ‘Oh, honey, you don’t need to be fixed; you just need somebody to travel the path with you.’ I love that. That’s what our relationship has been."

Follow this link to read the online issue of Hope, Winter 2010, Volume 5, number 2.
Please offer your comments here to continue the conversation.

 

In the New Year, what ancestors are you grateful for? Where are you searching for treasure? How do you know when you have found pearls of great price?

Today, I am celebrating the founding members of the Spiritual Directors International Coordinating Council: Janet Ruffing, RSM; Gerald May, MD (rest in peace); Lucy Abbott-Tucker; Rev. Donald Schell; and the first executive coordinator, Mary Ann Scofield, RSM (pictured above circa 1990). These extraordinary servant leaders recognized the treasure in the ministry and service of spiritual direction. They created an organization to foster global collegial care for the pearls of great price related to spiritual companionship.

For twenty years, Spiritual Directors International has been offering educational programs, inspiring publications, and raising awareness of the importance of spiritual companionship. Of course, spiritual direction has been around for a lot longer.

During the December Parliament of the World’s Religions, my heart awakened to a deeper awareness of how ancient the treasure of spiritual direction is. While I was listening to an Australian Aboriginal presenter, Vicki Walker, share her faith and her Aboriginal heritage, she said, “For 40,000 years, my ancestors have lived here. We have been listening to each other and to the land with our hearts. We know the land is treasure given to us, and we need to live in sacred relationship. I am related to you, and you are related to me and to the land too.”

The phrase, “for 40,000 years” is still opening in my heart and seeping into my mind as a pearl of great price. I often tell people that spiritual direction has been around for thousands of years. Depending on the person asking, I talk about Jewish mashpiahs offering spiritual guidance for more than 2000 years, or tell stories of Christian desert ammas and abbas from about 170 CE, or site Buddhist spiritual teachers who have been listening with compassion since about 450 BCE. Now, because of my encounter with many Aboriginal and Native people during the Parliament of the World’s Religions, I will as well be telling the story of spiritual companionship that dates back 40,000 years. I am grateful for our Aboriginal ancestors.

In this new year, I am also grateful for YOU! Grateful for your commitment to a ministry and service of spiritual companionship that dates back 40,000 years. I invite you to join Spiritual Directors International in thanking our treasured ancestors during the April 2010 educational events in San Francisco. Come participate in the amazing educational program, Gratefulness: the Heart of Spiritual Care.

In the comments section below, please share your stories of the founding of Spiritual Directors International or searching for treasure in your spiritual heritage.

Happy New Year!

Are you seeking a spiritual director, spiritual guide or a compassionate listener to accompany you at this time in your life?

Spiritual Directors International is offering a FREE one hour teleconference for everyone who wants to learn how to use the online Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors to find a spiritual director or guide.

From the ease of your own telephone you will discover practical steps to locate and interview a spiritual director and learn good questions to ask yourself during the process.

January 12, 2010 12:00 EST; 5:00 GMT/UTC or
May 11, 2010 12:00 EDT; 4:00 GMT/UTC

Click here to RSVP for the January 12, 2010 Teleconference
You will receive an e-mail one week ahead of time with the telephone number to call for the teleconference.

"How to Seek and Find a Spiritual Director" specifics

WHO: Everyone interested in learning how to seek and find a spiritual director or guide.
WHAT: A one hour FREE teleconference. Your only cost is the telephone call.
WHEN: January 12, 2010, 12:00-1:00 EST; 4:00-5:00 GMT/UTC (To calculate 12:00 EST; 4:00 GTU  in your time zone click here: www.timeanddate.com)
WHERE: Location of your choice, using your telephone.
WHY: Discover practical steps to locate and interview a spiritual director. Learn good questions to ask yourself as you begin this process. Find out about new and updated features in Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors - the first-ever comprehensive, global listing of available spiritual directors.

Click here to RSVP for the January 12, 2010 Teleconference
You will receive an e-mail one week ahead of time with the telephone number to call for the teleconference. Everyone is welcome.

Sacred listening transforms lives through the art of spiritual direction, spiritual guidance, spiritual accompaniment, anam cara in Gaelic, and mashpiah in Hebrew. SDI offers resources for spirituality, contemplative prayer, compassionate listening, discernment, education, and retreats. 

Kwanzaa is a seven day festival celebrating the African American people, their culture, and their history.  Kwanzaa begins on December 26 and continues until January 1.

Kwanzaa was created by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966, during the period of United States history when African Americans were involved in struggles for their civil rights.  Dr. Karenga wanted to create a holiday that would unite African Americans in celebration of their culture.  He was inspired by the "first fruit" festivals that were celebrated throughout Africa.  These first fruit festivals shared important characteristics.

   1. To gather together to celebrate their crops and harvest (community).
   2. To give thanks to their Creator for a good harvest and life (faith).
   3. To remember and celebrate their ancestors and the past (history).
   4.  To recommit themselves to their community (purpose).
   5.  Celebration of their history, culture, Creator, and promise of another year (creativity).

These characteristics inspired the Seven Principles of Kwanzaa.

Unity—Umoja

Strive for and maintain unity in the family, community, nation, and race.

Self-determination—Kujichagulia

Define ourselves, name ourselves, create for ourselves, and speak for ourselves.

Collective Work and Responsibility—Ujima

Build and maintain our community together and make our brother's and sister's problems our problems to be solved together.

Cooperative Economics—Ujamaa

Build and maintain our own stores, shops, and other businesses, and to profit from them together.

Purpose—Nia

Make our collective vocation the building and developing of our community in order to restore our people to their traditional greatness.

Creativity—Kuumba

Always do as much as we can, in the way we can, in order to leave our community more beautiful and beneficial than we inherited it.

Faith—Imani

Believe with all our heart in our people, our parents, our teachers, our leaders, and the righteousness and victory of our struggle.

--Therese Taylor-Stinson, Spiritual Directors International member, and a Presbyterian spiritual director.

Christians begin celebrating the feast of Christmas today. Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays rings throughout homes, in cars, on radios, in shopping malls, through halls and walls of buildings and businesses, on computer and cell phone screens. Merry Christmas reigns in streets where kids die, and where poverty, abandonment and abuse deepens. For practicing Christians, Christmas is a time to engage the significance of the incarnation, the birth of Jesus Christ in everyday life.

The invitation for us to ponder at Christmas could begin as simple as this,

Where might love want to birth within me?

The Gift
God did not come into the world wrapped with a shiny red bow, pretty and perfect, labeled precisely. No, God came as a vulnerable, helpless infant who needs us as much as we need God. Emmanuel, “God-With-Us” is birthed, unwrapped, and encountered within us and through our own ordinary and mysterious life experience. In the article "The Eternal Christ in the Cosmic Story" Richard Rohr, OFM, explains, “... Christianity is not just that we believe in God. The mystery we are about is much more than that: It’s that the material and the spiritual coexist. It’s the mystery of the Incarnation. Once we restore the idea that the Incarnation means God truly loves creation then we restore the sacred dimension to nature.”

Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas!
Christmas is not over on December 26. The Feast of Christmas begins on December 25, and culminates January 6, on the Feast of Epiphany. Every day is an opportunity to say yes to love, and wake up to the present moment. For the Twelve Days of Christmas we can practice genuine delight and forgiveness. We can gaze at people and our world with wonder and reverence. We can play with our family and friends. We can be willing to reach out with compassion to a stranger or someone in need. We can offer understanding and courage in difficult situations. We can receive, celebrate, feast, and rejoice in the reality that the material and the spiritual coexist, and that “the word became flesh.” We can become grateful for the gift of the incarnation of God!

Please join the many spiritual seekers who want to unwrap the ever-deepening meaning of “Yes, I will give birth to love. There is room and desire within me.”

Merry Christmas, Joy to the World!

Sneak peak! The new issue of Listen: A Seeker's Resource for Spiritual Direction is online now!

Take a short break and peruse this new issue. Then ask yourself, How will I incorporate the essence of play into the last days of 2009 and as a new decade begins?

From the January 2010 issue of Listen, "Playful and Grateful"

"Play awakens and engages our sensuality and sexuality. Playful activities create the glue for mutual, innovative endeavors and meaningful relationships. An antidote to suffering, play is healing and restorative."

"Spiritually, play is integral to a vital, healthy, and whole life. Playing is a profound way to pray, and only one letter separates pray from play!"

"Today I rarely give myself permission to play. I’m duty bound by some abstract should tape..." --"Field Guide"

"How did you play as a child? How do you play, now? What makes you tick? What enlivens you?" --"Field Notes"

"Offering a transformational exploration of sex throughout history, in religious experience, and in masculine and feminine spirituality, The Spirituality of Sex challenges us to celebrate matter and our potential as embodied, ecstatic human beings." --"Book Review"

"Are spiritual directors self-appointed? I realize Spiritual Directors International does not certify spiritual directors, but is there any kind of screening?" --"Ask Owl"

To read current and past issues of Listen, click this hyperlink; then click on any cover image on the page.

About Listen: A Seeker's Resource for Spiritual Direction:

• Assists seekers in a search for every day encounters with meaning, significance and the Sacred.
• Simple, inviting, contemplative, and educational.
• Includes short articles, book reviews, poetry, and global resources for retreats and education.
• Published in January, April, July, and October.
• Read around the world by more than 15,000 seekers, subscribers, and members of Spiritual Directors International.
• Distributed to major theological libraries, retreat centers, spiritual direction enrichment, formation and training centers, and individuals who express interest in receiving mailings from Spiritual Directors International.

Listen is a FREE outreach publication from Spiritual Directors International.

Please share your thoughts about this issue by adding your comment to this blog post.