During the Spiritual Directors International Leadership Institute, members Dan Robinson, PharmD; Jack Logue, MHA; Carol Ludwig, MA; George Grant, PhD; Dawn Grinenko, MD; and Karen Hahn, PhD served as faculty for a rich day of learning about how spiritual direction interfaces with health care. Participants were encouraged to identify one "seed" of an idea they would like to plant and grow in their health care setting. The idea "seeds of hope and compassion" will be brought to Houston, Texas, USA, in April where they will be nourished during the annual conference with prayer and encouragement.

For more than a decade, member Louise Samuelson has worked at Campus Crusade for Christ with many years spent in Nairobi, Kenya. Louise offers spiritual direction to Campus Crusade staff and creates prayer opportunities at the headquarters near Orlando, Florida. Louise is modeling how spiritual direction might be made available on college campuses and in developing countries.

Members Joy Carol and Mary Ann Brussat hosted a popular booth during the Spiritual Care Summit helping participants learn about DVDs and online courses that teach about spirituality in many traditions.

Thank you Carol Ludwig for answering hundreds of questions about spiritual direction during the Spiritual Care Summit. The Spiritual Directors International booth enjoyed a steady stream of chaplains and health care providers seeking ways to integrate spiritual direction into their own life and into health care.

More than a hundred chaplains and health care providers attended the workshop, “Spiritual Care for Health Care Providers” offered by Liz Ellmann, MDiv; Dawn Grinenko, MD; Jack Logue, MHA; and Carol Ludwig, MA, during the Spiritual Care Summit in Orlando, Florida, USA. Poet Jinks Hoffmann created a poem for the health care events.

 

Sunflowers

 

Petals of sunflowers, borders of golden beauty,

radiance of compassion lifted to sun,

bounty of possibility, delight and hope.

 

Centers of sunflowers, core of darkness,

weight of dismay,

heavy with weariness and despair.

 

Sunflowers, outer and inner,

light and dark are we,

tending others in need.

 

Heart of darkness at sunflower’s center

heart of seeds spills in weariness

onto acquiescent earth.

 

It is life’s Spirit, rich earth, healing sun,

nourishing rain,

it is life’s Spirit,

that pings forth the new.

 

Sunflowers, light and dark are we,

tending others in need.

 

When we release our seeds,

when we seek the unique respite

that serves our souls,

when we peathe into deepest wisdom within,

when we ask

what do I do here,

what do I do now?

Earth’s Spirit answers

in the language

only we can understand,

then can we, who tend others in need,

lift our golden faces

in compassion and celepation

once more.

 

© Jennifer (Jinks) Hoffmann 29th January 2009

Member Suzanne Dunbar writes from Australia:

The fires have been truly horrific, and it is a national tragedy. The Prime Minister has declared a national day of mourning. At the same time as the fires, there have been devastating floods in Queensland! So the bottom half of the country is inflames and the top half under water. We live in a wild land. It is a constant reminder of the fragilty of life and how we must attend it with care.

Please keep the people of Australia in your prayers.

The new chair of the North American Spiritual Care Collaborative, David A. Lichter, DMin, stopped by the Spiritual Directors International exhibition booth during the Spiritual Care Summit in Orlando, Florida, USA. David is a champion for spiritual direction. Carol Ludwig and David shared ideas and mutual encouragement for integrating spiritual direction into health care.

Spiritual Directors International participated in the Spiritual Care Summit gathering of North American chaplains. The chair of the summit, George Grant, PhD, visited the Spiritual Directors International booth and is pictured with Lisa Irish (in the background, Bobbi Breitman and Carol Ludwig). Member Bobbi Wright, a spiritual director and a chaplain, writes about the thread that links spiritual direction and chaplaincy in the Christian tradition:

The connection between chaplaincy and spiritual direction is that of holy listening. Listening is one of the most important gifts that we can give the each other. Holy listening entails silencing all noise and interruptions around us and centering in on the other. It involves also bringing the Holy One into the moment. We listen and talk differently when someone else is listening. In our holy silence, we not only listen to ourselves, but also to the Other. As we practice this in our daily lives, we can listen this way with anyone we encounter. What a powerful message this sends. We are indeed blessed with God-given goodness and beauty of the gift of listening.

Earl Johnson, director of the Red Cross Spiritual Care Response Team, and Debi Hall offered training for people interested in serving in the event of disasters. Spiritual direction is one way of offering self-care to the spiritual care providers and possibly with families of disaster victims. Spiritual Directors International is exploring ways to offer spiritual care as part of the collaborative Red Cross network.

On January 25, 1959, Blessed Pope John announced his intention to convene a world-wide church council. Father Richard McBrien recalls the event in a story for the National Catholic Reporter.

The pope noted famously in his diary that the small group of assembled cardinals on that day in January, 1959 had greeted his announcement with “impressive, devout silence,” perhaps reflecting not only their surprise but their disapproval as well.

John, after all, had just been elected on October 28, 1958, as a so-called transitional pope. He was just a month shy of his 77th birthday at the time of the conclave. After Pope Pius XII’s lengthy pontificate of more than 19 years, the cardinal-electors were looking for some breathing-space before his “real” successor could be named.

But John XXIII had a different idea. He informed the cardinals that the decision to call a council was his alone, and that it was final. He explained that he was motivated “solely by concern for the ‘good of souls’ and in order that the new pontificate may come to grips, in a clear and well-defined way, with the spiritual needs of the present time.”

Click here to read the entire story.

You may remember Membership Services Coordinator, Cynthia Jordan Delaney, who joined Spiritual Directors International after Hurricane Katrina wiped out her home in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The Spirit prevailed and created new life for Cynthia and Kevin. Kevin writes, “Our first baby, Katharine Elise, was born Sunday morning (12:56 am on January 18). She weighed 7 pounds and 4 ounces and was 22 inches long--a long baby! She was born at the Bozeman [Montana, USA] Birth Center a mere half hour after we arrived there, a much shorter time than we had anticipated. She had a gentle water birth, and I caught her when she came out in the spacious birthing tub. Cynthia appreciated me as her birth partner, and we both appreciated the efforts of our midwife Stacey and our doula Sasha. We are ecstatic at her arrival and good health, and are adjusting to the wonders of life with her.”

Please join the us in celebrating new life in Cynthia’s family and pray in gratitude for their newly expanded family.

Member Regina Roman wrote to celebrate how the inaugural events connected with Spiritual Directors International conference in Washington, DC:

One item that stood out for me that I wanted to share with you is the wonderful benediction Rev. Joseph Lowery gave after President Obama's speech. He used the words of President Washington that Spiritual Directors International used for the worldwide silent meditation at the conference in March 2008. I could not help but ponder that, when we allow the prayer to pray itself, it becomes much larger than any one of us. Spiritual Directors International offered a prophetic prayer whose thread continued to flow into January at the inauguration.

Perhaps it may be an nudge to invite all members to continue to ponder what we are being called into at the deepest levels. It warmed my heart to witness Spiritual Directors International at the edges of change.

Blessings upon your day,
Regina

 

This is the text of the prayer that Dr. Barry Black, chaplain of the United States Senate, led before the inaugural luncheon yesterday.

Lord of all nations,
whose kingdom is above all earthly kingdoms,
and who judges all lesser sovereignties,
look with favor upon President Barak Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, and members of the Cabinet.
Empower them with the wisdom, courage and strength needed for our times;

And protect them from any moral arrogance
that obstructs the making of a world of justice, peace, and righteousness.

Infuse them with a passion to act in ways pleasing to you.

Lord, preserve their families in health and strength by your mercy and power.
And may they find your grace sufficient for every need.

We ask also that you would shower your blessings upon the American people.
Give us the wisdom to support our new president with our prayers, patience, and perseverance.

Bless now this luncheon and the nourishment we receive from your bounty.
We pray in your sovereign name. Amen

Liz Ellmann is heading to St. Mary’s food bank to sort food for the hungry. If you would like to join me or participate in other service events, check out these opportunities, http://tinyurl.com/886lq3. Barack Obama has requested that today, Martin Luther King Day, be a day of service in America. In a spirit of service internationally, I invite everyone to focus attention on service today.

Many of you may remember Jan Lebow from the Spiritual Directors International conference in Costa Mesa, California, USA (she is pictured here with Will.i.am choir members Greta, Rickie and Jason). Well, Jan is heading to Washington, DC to sing at the Presidential Inauguration. She writes, “Yes, by ALL means, please hold us in prayer. Every time I try to picture how we're going to get from point A to point B with all the security measures, my stomach turns to jelly! Then I have to take a deep, deep breath and remember that we are going to DC by divine appointment, and that everything will unfold exactly as it should. Still, the more prayer, the better!”