What does it mean to serve justice as a spiritual companion? How does God change our hearts? When is it time to stay in and be present to the tensions of injustice, and when is it time to leave for the sake of justice? These questions beleaguered me as Spiritual Directors International discerned that the 2011 Cultivating Compassion educational events must move out of Boston due to labor disputes at the hotel where we planned to gather.

I realize the move from Boston will disappoint many people in New England and create a lot of work for staff and volunteers in Atlanta, Georgia, where Spiritual Directors International will host Cultivating Compassion in April 2011. Yet it is the right thing to do. How do I know? To be honest, I do not quite fully understand with my head’s knowledge. But my whole body knows: heart, soul, and communal spirit knowledge.

This is not the first time that Spiritual Directors International has been asked to serve justice in a hotel situation. Flashback to 2002, during the SARS epidemic. Spiritual Directors International discerned to stay in Toronto and host educational events, despite SARS, in part to demonstrate support for the Toronto community and to provide work for the hotel housekeepers and kitchen staff. Some amazing conversations occurred between housekeepers and spiritual directors as a result of Spiritual Directors International choosing to stay.

In the current circumstance, the plight of Boston hotel housekeepers who lost their jobs a year ago has polarized executive staff at the hotels, unions, New England clergy of many faiths, and SDI members. Instead of black and white, right and wrong, spiritual directors listen for many shades of gray. We ask “Where is God in this situation?”  

For me, the discernment to move the 2011 Cultivating Compassion educational events from Boston to Atlanta has opened my heart to people who seek justice everywhere. Please join me in praying for God to continue to change our hearts.

In the comments section below, please share your thoughts about what it means to you to serve justice as a spiritual companion. Where do you notice God changing hearts? How does contemplative practice contribute to justice?

 

August 16, 2010, The University of Oregon reports:

"Just 11 hours of learning a meditation technique induces positive structural changes in brain connectivity by boosting efficiency in a part of the brain that helps a person regulate behavior in accordance with their goals, researchers report. The technique -- integrative body-mind training (IBMT) -- has been the focus of intense scrutiny by a team of Chinese researchers led by Yi-Yuan Tang of Dalian University of Technology in collaboration with University of Oregon psychologist Michael I. Posner."

Using a type of magnetic resonance called diffusion tensor imaging allows researchers to examine fibers connecting brain regions.

"The importance of our findings relates to the ability to make structural changes in a brain network related to self regulation," said Posner, who last fall received a National Medal of Science. "The pathway that has the largest change due to IBMT is one that previously was shown to relate to individual differences in the person's ability to regulate conflict."

The new research is published online the week of Aug. 16-21 ahead of regular publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Click to read the full article, "Chinese meditation IBMT found to boost brain connectivity."

Explore your meditation, contemplative practice, and prayer life when you meet regularly with a spiritual director. To locate a spiritual guide near you, visit the online Seek and Find Guide at the Spiritual Directors International Web site.

What is your experience of meditation? Please comment...

 

 

As Muslims enter into the month long holy holiday of Ramadan and focus on self-discipline--physical, mental, emotional and spiritual--we can reflect upon words from Spiritual Directors International member Sheikh Jamal Rahman. In 2009, Rahman, together with Kathleen Schmitt Elias, and Ann Holmes Redding authored A Spiritual Directors International Book:  Out of Darkness, Into Light: Spiritual Guidance in the Quran with Reflections from Jewish and Christian Sources.

We learn:

"In Islam, whose name means surrender to God, the central goal is to live our lives in the spirit of surrender to our Creator. Seekers of any religious tradition have a similar desire to achieve union with Divine Reality. Whether we call it surrender, redemption, union, or quest for inner freedom, the journey is the same. It is a lifelong adventure, and along the way there are many twists and turns, many opportunities to get lost or go astray. There are no maps to guide the human heart, but in every religion there are teachers and basic guidebooks—scriptures and sacred texts that point the way toward Mystery. In Islam, we have the Quran. We also have fourteen centuries of wisdom distilled from the Holy Book by Islamic sages, mystics, and teachers."

To read more about Out of Darkness, Into Light, click here.

Revealing Ramadan: 30 Days, 30 Stories

Would reading "personal stories and reflections about the meaning of Ramadan and how Muslims incorporate those experiences into their personal faith journeys during Islam’s holiest month and afterward" inspire and intrigue you? Then make certain to take a look at the Speaking of Faith “Revealing Ramadan” blog where 30 stories—one story per day—will be "featuring the voices of Muslims from Madrid to Dallas and Seattle."

Every 2.2 seconds, a foot long pulse of neutrinos leaves the circular accelerator at Fermilab near Chicago, Illinois, USA and is aimed northward toward a target a half mile underground in a defunct 19th century iron mine in Soudan, Minnesota, USA. The tiny particles travel at almost the speed of light, reaching Soudan 2.5 thousandths of a second later.

Last week I visited my family on the north shore of Lake Superior where my grandparents built a cabin. My father took me to visit an experiment that has captured his imagination. He ferried me to the underworld.

In an old mining cage, we descended down, down, down, half a mile into the dark, damp earth where iron miners once toiled. We entered a modern high-energy physics lab carved into 2.7 billion year old rock. On one wall, a huge bright mural tells the story of scientists experimenting with fundamental structures of the universe (see mural by Joseph Giannetti). Bats fly through space in the mural, as they do in the deep mine.

The lab houses receptors consisting of six-thousand tons of giant steel plates that detect the existence of neutrinos that have been blasted from the Fermilab accelerator 735 kilometers (457 miles!) away. The neutrinos not only move through clay and rock but also are so small they pass through the emptiness of atoms. Only neutrinos that strike the nucleus of atoms within the six-thousand-ton-steel-plate receptors are detected. Of the billions of neutrinos sent every 2.2 seconds, only four neutrinos a day are recorded.

There are no commercial applications for the information gained by the elaborate and expensive experiment half a mile underground. Pure science. Basic inquiry. A passion for understanding. But what are we trying to understand? Creation. God’s universe. God’s great labyrinth. In fact, the name of the experiment is MINOS meaning Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search. You may recall in mythology that Minos was the builder of the labyrinth.

Dallying with quantum physics puts me in a state of awe. I certainly do not understand all that is going on, but the realization that neutrinos are God’s handiwork deepens my faith and appreciation for all God has created, including the vastness of space in everything I perceive to be solid, like rock and steel.

My father prays differently than I do. His search is unlike mine. And yet, we seek. We search. We yearn for connection with the great mystery.

In the comments section of the blog, please share your thoughts about how you go deeper and explore further. What inspires awe for you?

 

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

Learn tips and next steps on August 24, 2010 during a FREE teleconference.

Spiritual Directors International offers FREE one hour educational teleconferences 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.

Learn practical steps to locate and interview a spiritual director from the ease of your own telephone, in the location of your choice.

August 24, 2010 12:00 EDT; 5:00 GMT/UTC

Click here to RSVP for the August 24, 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 educational teleconference. Your only cost is the telephone call.
WHEN: August 24, 2010, 12:00-1:00 EDT; 4:00-5:00 GMT/UTC (To calculate 12:00 EDT; 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 August 24, 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. 

The Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction (AECSD) invites participation in a new Symposium that aims to examine the impact of contemporary spirituality on the practice of spiritual direction.

The Inaugural National Symposium of the Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction: Exploring Contemporary Spirituality and its Impact on the Practice of Spiritual Direction will feature academic papers and practitioner presentations exploring the topic, according to a press statement.

The Symposium will be held on October 29-30 in Melbourne, Australia

Links
Australian Ecumenical Council for Spiritual Direction

 

Participate on August 14, 2010 in The Great Kindness Challenge

On August 14, 2010, from sunup to sundown, children around the world will accomplish simple, kind deeds using The Great Kindness Challenge Checklist of simple ideas. The "Kids for Peace" goal is to have over one million children participate. It is the hope that, "this day will inspire a lifelong commitment to service and kindness." Will you consider participating to serve and offer as many acts of kindness as possible?

Spiritual direction and contemplative practice leads to discerned action. Action can result in a world that is more kind, loving, just, and compassionate for all.
                     
Kids For Peace Pledge      
I pledge to use my words to speak in a kind way.
I pledge to help others as I go throughout my day.
I pledge to care for our earth with my healing heart and hands.
I pledge to respect people in each and every land.
I pledge to join together as we unite the big and small.
I pledge to do my part to create peace for one and all

 

Links
Kids for Peace

 

Kids for Peace is a global, 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting our world through love and action. Their mission is to cultivate every child's innate ability to foster peace through cross-cultural experiences and hands-on arts, service and environmental projects.

       

Looking for refreshment? Drink in wisdom from SDI spiritual directors through a new video...

Five spiritual directors from different spiritual traditions and global locations respond to the question, “As a spiritual director, what nourishes or refreshes you?”

Listen to Rev. Mary Earle, Jamal Rahman, Alexandra Kovats, CSJP, Rabbi Ted Falcon, and Rev. Gibbon Bogatsu. These five leaders share from their personal story in interview clips filmed during the Spiritual Directors International educational events in Houston, Texas, USA. 

Links
To learn more from these contemplative leaders, watch additional videos in the "Spiritual Directors International Learns From..." series:

    * Rev. Gibbon Bogatsu: how spiritual direction helps people deepen their relationship with God
    * The Rev. Mary Earle: learning to pray and listen with more than the ears
    * Rabbi Ted Falcon: Torah as a paradigm for spiritual awakening and spiritual direction as a place for doubts and questions to be explored
    * Alexandra Kovats, CSJP: ecological spirituality as it relates to God's peace and the value of spiritual direction
    * Jamal Rahman: prayer, the Qur'an, and how spiritual teachers and spiritual directors in the Muslim tradition provide support for learning how to be at peace with yourself 

Gratefulness extends to member Tara Owens, CSD for creating this video.

Please share your thoughts and comments to this question, “As a spiritual director, what nourishes or refreshes you?”

 

 

In celebration of Spiritual Directors International turning twenty in 2010, SDI asked members to share photographs and birthday blessings with a Gratefulness Gram!

Be inspired, read what people say ... and, please add your thoughts, comments, and send your own gratefulness gram via this blog post!

Gratefulness Grams

Please add your own Gratefulness Gram via this blog post. Simply add a comment. Alternately, send your note and photo via e-mail to membership@sdiworld.org to be included in the Gratefulness Gram slideshow.

 

 

This story was submitted by Mary Karp on the Spiritual Directors International Web site:

By the time I was in my mid 40's, I had established a career in Clinical Social Work; was comfortable with God and my faith of Quakerism; was married to my college sweetheart -- with a beautiful home, two fine boys, a Golden Retriever, and even two cars! I was set.
 
Then, in one dramatic 24-hour period, it all began to unravel. Within a short span of time, I was diagnosed first with Lupus SLE then with Parkinson’s: two life threatening, chronic diseases. At first, I tried to manage the chaos that the Lupus brought to our lives, all on my own. Within a short time, however, I  was driven to the use of drugs and psychiatry for depression when, two years into the diagnosis,  the Lupus inflamed my kidneys and my very life was suddenly on the line. It was after stabilizing  on an experimental chemotherapy, that I stumbled across 'Spiritual Direction' and knew instinctively and immediately that that was my door to sanity, even as I had no idea what spiritual direction really was. In that critical
Moment, I knew only that I was exhausted, and that therapy could not touch the pain I was in – it was spiritual. I was spinning helplessly – in increasingly tight circles – desperate for relief from relentless questions:

WHERE WAS GOD?
WHAT HAD I DONE TO DESERVE THIS?!
HOW COULD I LIVE WITH THIS MEDICAL NIGHTMARE?
MY FAMILY SHOULD NOT HAVE TO LIVE WITH THIS LEVEL OF CHAOS AND LOSS –
IT IS NOT FAIR!!
WHY ME?!
GOD HAS BETRAYED ME!!

Spiritual direction has done nothing short of quieting me down, helping me to grow up and into my new reality, creating a container for my fears and extreme panic, and bringing me home to myself and my God. Spiritual direction has transformed my life to one of possibilities out of my now deepened and renewed relationship with the God-of-my-understanding.

With a deep bow of gratitude, we thank you, Mary, for letting people around the world and across traditions know about how spiritual direction transformed you.

In the comments section of the blog, please reply and share your thoughts about how spiritual direction has transformed you. Or if you prefer, you may add your comments through the Share Your Story Web page.

Do you desire to learn about spiritual direction, what you can expect in spiritual direction, where spiritual direction might lead, and what to bring to spiritual direction? Are you wondering if spiritual direction could help your prayer and meditation practice?

Make time for a few minutes with Rev. Jane E. Vennard. Through two new short videos you will hear many gems, including, “Take your time," "Spiritual direction keeps me praying" and "Open your heart to the wonder of the world."

With this engaging, genuine conversation, Vennard adds to the “Spiritual Directors International Learns From…” video series. Filmed during the SDI twentieth anniversary celebration in San Francisco, California, USA, she was a plenary keynote during the educational events.

“What to Expect In Spiritual Direction”

About
Rev. Jane E. Vennard is a spiritual director, and senior adjunct faculty of prayer and spirituality at Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, USA. She teaches and leads retreats in international ecumenical settings, and is the author of six books including Praying with Body and Soul; Be Still: Designing and Leading Contemplative Retreats; and The Way of Prayer.

Additional Links

• FREE educational videos in "SDI Learns From..." YouTube video series. More than fifteen titles are now available to you
• Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors is an online, comprehensive, global listing of more than 5,000 spiritual directors and guides. Using interactive Google maps, you can search anywhere in the world
• FREE one hour Spiritual Directors International Teleconference: “How to Seek and Find a Spiritual Director”
• To be the first to view new educational videos, add your name to the YouTube subscription service for sdiworld videos Links to books by Rev. Jane E. Vennard, and additional juicy titles from spiritual leaders

Spiritual Directors International creates educational videos for the general public to tell the story of spiritual direction, which is also known as spiritual companionship, spiritual guidance, and spiritual accompaniment.

Please share these videos with your colleagues, local religious and spiritual institutions, hospital, organizations that offer spiritual care, seekers, family, friends, students, and everyone seeking a spiritual director or guide.

Gratefulness extends to Rev. Jane E. Vennard, Pegge Bernecker, and Spiritual Directors International for producing these new videos.

Krista Tippett, author, producer, and host of the Public Radio show, "Speaking of Faith" writes, "Focused Attention, Open Awareness" I'm not sure I'd seen the words "physicist" and "contemplative" in the same sentence many times, much less found them together as descriptors of the same person, before I met Arthur Zajonc."

The opening words in Tippett's e-mail announcement for the June 24, 2010 show, "Holding Life Consciously" grabbed me. Having not yet listened to the show or podcast on my iPod, a knowing and affirmation reverberated within my Spirit in subtle new language: Focus. Attention. Open Awareness. Alert. Alive. Stillness.

Gift yourself. Take a minute and read quotes in this blog post. Or, read the full description I read, and listen to the June 24, 2010 show, "Holding Life Consciously"

Notice: What opens in you? Is your inner knowing affirmed with any of these insights? Does a phrase or turn of words evoke an inner smile and affirmation in you?

From June 24, 2010 show, "Holding Life Consciously:

"Zajonc's own life experience has been recently reshaped by a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease. He has seen the progression of this illness in other members of his family, and so has some understanding of what is ahead. This is at one and the same time a source of grief and a continuation of the adventure Arthur Zajonc has long been on — to explore what holding life consciously means, now with a progressively debilitating condition. He tells me:

"There are two main types of meditation and both of them are part of my life, which one is a concentration and the other is what I call open awareness. It's a very open presence."

In the concentration phase, tremors actually worsened.

You have a line of poetry or from scripture or an image and you bring your full undivided single-pointed attention to that content. But as we're straining mentally to do that, the hand begins to tremor more. And then when you release the image and become very still and quiet and open yourself wide, the hand slowly calms to the point where indeed your whole body feels at ease and the tremor disappears. Interesting…

I can see that the mind and the body are so delicately attuned to one another that these practices affect the Parkinson's state itself. … So here's the question I pose to myself.

"Is it possible to be alive, active in the world, and yet have such calm, such kind of inner openness and presence that one can lead a life, at least in part, that is an expression of that quality of meditative quiescence that's on the one hand quite alert and on the other hand, completely at ease, completely at rest. … And I'll keep you posted as to whether that comes out all right or not."

What do you think?

"People want to be compassionate, but often they don't know how to go about it." --Karen Armstrong

A 57 second video introduces Armstrong's new Vook, A Compassionate Life in 12 Steps. Short and pithy, let these simple words inspire you. You'll hear a young woman say, "It's time for us to really look within." Do you agree? Could a spiritual director accompany your inner journey of seeking that manifests in compassion for self and others?

Imagine a world of compassion in action. Armstrong does, and teaches us how to go about it. One man tells us, "You gotta be compassionate, man! You can't walk around mad at the world all the time." Indeed! Well, said.

Armstrong is a religious scholar, author, TED Prize winner, and her vision created the worldwide Charter for Compassion.

A vook is a new innovation in reading that blends a well-written book, high-quality video and the power of the Internet into a single, complete story.

Are you looking for some direction in your life - something more? A spiritual director, companion, mentor, or guide may help you along on your journey of discovery. Tips and online resource:  Locate a spiritual director.

 

Give a FREE gift to your community…
The 2011 print version of Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors is published once a year, and it's coming soon!

A complimentary gift ...
Would you like to share a printed copy of the 2011 Seek and Find Guide with someone in your community who would benefit from having a 2011 print version? Perhaps one of these places or people spark an idea in you:

• Your local spiritual congregation leader
• Dean in a theology school or rabbinical college
• Director of a retreat or mindfulness center
• Chaplain or spiritual care provider in your local health care center
• Local business, charitable organization, the Red Cross, or a homeless shelter
• Engage your imagination ... who? where?
  

It's simple:
Send SDI your snail mail address, or the address of a person in your community who will appreciate receiving the Seek and Find Guide. We’ll mail them a COMPLIMENTARY copy later this year! We will even let them know that you are giving them this gift if you would like us to. All members of Spiritual Directors International will automatically receive a free copy via snail mail. It's a membership benefit.

Act by July 1, 2010
Tell us where to send a copy of the 2011 Seek and Find Guide – it’s a fast and easy way to help your community.

• Telephone the home office of SDI at: 425-455-1565; or
• Send an e-mail to Molly: membership [@] sdiworld.org

Please include the following information in your e-mail:
Subject: FREE Seek and Find

Name:
Organization:
Address 1:
Address 2:
City:
State/Province/Territory:
Zip code / Postal code:
Country:
E-mail:
Would you like us to e-mail the person to let them know you are sending them a gift? Yes or no?

Help people connect
This is one concrete way we can work together to touch the lives of many people in your community. On your behalf, Spiritual Directors International is reaching out to raise awareness of the global and local ministry and service of spiritual companionship by placing a Seek and Find Guide at their fingertips.

Spiritual Directors International Membership
Current members: Please update your membership information by July 1. Fill out the profile update form http://www.sdiworld.org/profileupdates.html or e-mail membership [@] sdiworld.org. Any changes to your information must be received by July 1st to be included in the 2011 printed Seek and Find Guide.

Not yet a member? Join SDI now. You will be included in the online and printed version of the 2011 Seek and Find Guide, and receive many other membership benefits. It's easy. 

 

 

In Claremont, California, USA, "A rabbi, a minister and an imam walk into a classroom, and it's no joke."

Nardine Saad, an Associated Press Writer reports,

"The venerable Claremont School of Theology has taught Methodist ministers and theologians for more than a century, but in the fall they'll try an unorthodox approach: cross-training the nation's future Muslim, Christian and Jewish religious leaders in classrooms scattered around Southern California as they work toward their respective degrees. The experimental approach launched Wednesday [June 9, 2010] is intended to create U.S. religious leaders who not only preach tolerance in an era of religious strife, but who have lived it themselves by rubbing shoulders with those in other Abrahamic faiths."

Additionally, Saad writes,

• "The collaborative effort among the seminary, Jewish academy and Islamic center is believed to be the first to integrate the three studies. Other Christian institutions, such as Connecticut's Hartford Seminary, offer an imam training program but don't incorporate rabbinical students."
   
• "Jewish organizers are excited that the project will allow future rabbis and imams to study together for the first time — something that's increasingly important in a world where Muslim-Jewish conflict makes headlines almost every day."
   
• "Students have expressed excitement about the project. Susan Goldberg, 36, a third-year rabbinical student from Echo Park, said she is "thrilled" about studying overlapping theologies and scriptures in the project. "I have a great desire to learn about others and in the learning it clarifies who I am and how I'm different and how we're connected," she said. "It can only serve to make us better leaders.""

 Links

Click to read the full article, "Theology School Melds Studies of Different Faiths" by Nardine Saad, writing for The Associated Press, June 9, 2010.

Click to read more about the Claremont School of Theology "University Project."

Spiritual Directors International is a global learning community of people from many faiths and many nations who share a common concern, passion and commitment to the art and contemplative practice of spiritual direction.  

Please add your thoughts and comments to this blog post.