A mid-30s GenX mom blogs about her retreat at Iona:

 

 

I can’t remember what my spiritual director—a jolly Dominican nun just a few years older than I—said in response to all this, though it was almost definitely a question rather than a declaration. But like a flash I realized: when a gate swings shut, it doesn’t just close off a path. It also creates a boundary. A safe space. A refuge.

Read the rest of her post here.

The twilight of the idols has been postponed. For more than two centuries, from the American and French Revolutions to the collapse of Soviet Communism, world politics revolved around eminently political problems. War and revolution, class and social justice, race and national identity — these were the questions that divided us. Today, we have progressed to the point where our problems again resemble those of the 16th century, as we find ourselves entangled in conflicts over competing revelations, dogmatic purity and divine duty. We in the West are disturbed and confused. Though we have our own fundamentalists, we find it incomprehensible that theological ideas still stir up messianic passions, leaving societies in ruin. We had assumed this was no longer possible, that human beings had learned to separate religious questions from political ones, that fanaticism was dead. We were wrong.

Read the rest of Mark Lilla's insightful article, "The Politics of God," here.

Rev. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI, recently spoke on “Secularity and the Gospel: Being Missionaries to Our Own Children” as part of the Great Theologians Lecture series at the Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry. You can listen to or view the lecture here.

The role of the spiritual mentor is essential in the practice of Tasawwuf. Tasawwuf is the traditional Islamic science of self-improvement and spirituality (sufism), focussing on one's relationship with Allah. The Revivalry blog explains the practice:

 

 

Hence, when one turns to a Spiritual Mentor, it is to reform oneself, and that is the real objective of turning to him is achieved: to imbibe excellent traits, and ward off and crush the unworthy characteristics. This, then, is the true purpose of Tasawwuf. Nevertheless, the Zikr and supplications are also helpful to the seeker. Only through the guidance of the Spiritual Mentor can the regimen of Zikr, supplications and other repetitions be prescribed for every individual according to the Sheikh's opinion of his condition.

You can read more about Tasawwuf and the need for a spiritual mentor here.

Gannet Girl, a spiritual director in training, compares her understanding of spiritual direction to the art of photography and the process of discernment.

 

Spiritual direction (much like a polished photograph) is ultimately about discernment and its consequences. We tend to think of discernment in prayer as a process for the big things in life: Should I marry this person? Go to law school or go to work for Pixar? Pursue social justice or a 401(k)? Turn my life upside down and go to seminary or retain my employment and secure salary? (Yes, go ahead and laugh.) But discernment is a means for seeing God in all things, not just the big ones, and engaging in the process of spiritual direction nurtures that capacity in us. If you are called into the desert of prayer, it's good to have company.

Click here to read more.

Here is a 10 minute video of a simple, effective technique of mantra meditation in the Kriya Yoga Tradition as described by Roy Eugene Davis, personal disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda, spiritual director of Center for Spiritual Awareness.

 

 

I sat in my car and took a breath. This would be the first time I met with my spiritual director. I was a little nervous. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I knew I needed to do this. I needed someone to help me find my way out of the depression that had darkened my life and back to intimacy with God. I hadn’t sinned or wandered off—nothing so dramatic. What I had been for the last five years was busy. First I attended seminary plus worked a full-time job. After seminary, the full-time job continued, and I added a part-time pastoral position. Somewhere in the midst of preparing for ministry and actual ministry, I had lost my own way with God. I was tired, burnt-out, and I needed help.

Click here to read Chicago writer Shawn R. B. Atteberry's story of dealing with depression and her experience of spiritual direction.

[via Revgalblogpals]

Jeanne Miller-Clark and her staff host a weekly “Ancient Ritual of High Tea” for people living with cancer and their caregivers. Silence, reflection, and contemplation while sipping tea help people notice each moment. Jeanne serves tea in beautiful teacups from around the world, donated by patients and their families. Jeanne is pictured with a cancer patient who donated a teacup from her great grandmother. For more on how spiritual care is linked with health care, see this New York Times article. (You need to register, but it's free.)

Philip Culbertson helpfully (circa 1992) lists twelve stumbling blocks that inhibit the development of a healthy masculine spirituality within the Christian tradition. Despite many of the issues arising from the late 1980’ the list does in some measure begin to get at the “false masculine” and thus the obstacles and opportunities we face as males in becoming more fully human, alive, and free.

Read the list here.

Meditation has been around for thousands of years, but not so long ago extended retreats or programs that banned speech were reserved for aging rock stars or college students on the ten-year plan. And while the practice isn't exactly mainstream in corporate America, more and more executives are open to anything that might help them thrive in - or temporarily disconnect from - today's BlackBerry-addled ADD business climate.

Read more about meditation in the corporate world here.

Liz Ellmann recently visited Dan Robinson near Ocala, Florida, USA, to learn about his involvement in Sholom Park and the Center for Spirituality and Health program at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Dan designed the labyrinth and offers retreats in spirituality, health, and group spiritual direction in Sholom Park.

 

 

If you thought the churches in Europe were in decline, think again.

 

 

 

 

After decades of secularization, religion in Europe has slowed its slide toward what had seemed inevitable oblivion. There are even nascent signs of a modest comeback. Most church pews are still empty. But belief in heaven, hell and concepts such as the soul has risen in parts of Europe, especially among the young, according to surveys. Religion, once a dead issue, now figures prominently in public discourse.

To read the surprising reason for this turnaround, click here.

Life coaches Brandi and Orrand Dawson-King have posted an alphabetical list of spiritual practices. They recommend three ways to use the list:

 

 

1. Recite it to remind yourself.
   
2. Write the alphabet on stones and keep them in a bowl. Choose one and practice it for a week.
3. Read the alphabet slowly until one practice "calls" you.

Here are the "alpha and the omega" of the pactices.

Attention
(Mindfulness, Medictation, Concentration Exercises,Walking Meditation)....

Zeal
(Intention, Wholeheartedness, Vows, Passionate Commitments, Zest for Life)

To see all of the practices, click here.

Sarah Hart, a spiritual director and the daughter of a Presbyterian pastor, sells "chocolate you can believe in." Through her store in Portland, Oregon, USA, and her Web site, she offers handcrafted candies in the images of Buddha in various poses, the Virgin of Guadalupe, Quan Yin, hamsa hands, the Sacred Heart, and Celtic crosses. She says the edible icons illustrate a central tenet of Buddhism: Nothing lasts forever. For more information, see almachocolate.com.

[via CNNMoney]

Sociologist and executive director of New College Berkeley, Susan S. Phillips, PhD, recently spoke on spiritual direction at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Kian-Seng Yap, an MDiv student at Regent, wrote about the presentation.

Phillips begins by stating her wariness of calling oneself a 'spiritual director' for God is the ultimate spiritual director. In her work, she experience firsthand that people find it easier to talk about their sexual lives, working lives etc than their spiritual lives. Her work then is to help people to find their spiritual bearings in order to determine how to walk their spiritual journey.

Read all of his report here.