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!