Last year, a group of 50 Unitarian Universalists joined to form the UU Spiritual Directors’ Network. At the same time, spiritual direction groups have been attracting growing interest at both Harvard Divinity School and Andover Newton School of Theology, schools educating about a quarter of all Unitarian Universalists studying for the ministry. [Rev. Jade] Angelica believes that if more Unitarian Universalists knew what spiritual direction was and where it was available, they would want to explore it.

To read more about the Unitarian Universalists network, click here.

The Center for Contemplative Mind in Society has made available for free download their "Tree of Contemplative Practices." It illustrates a variety of practices that have been developed over the past few thousand years.

 

To learn more and to download your copy, click here.

According to the Associated Press, the Vatican recently issued "Ten Commandments" for drivers, addressing the pastoral needs of motorists.

It warned about the effects of road rage, saying driving can bring out "primitive" behavior in motorists, including "impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility or deliberate infringement of the highway code." It urged motorists to obey traffic regulations, drive with a moral sense, and to pray when behind the wheel.

See all ten here. [via Yahoo! News]

Blogger and writer Maggie Ross makes a case for not using the terms "spiritual director" and "spiritual direction."

But there are even deeper reasons for us to be conscious of spatial and linear thinking. These two kinds of thinking represent two models of power, and each of these models of power leads to maturity or immaturity, salvation or a dead end, love or fear, and to each are tied attitudes that link death and power. For this reason alone—and there are many others—we need to get rid of the terms "spiritual director" and "spiritual direction" once and for all. The nuances of these terms immediately set up a hierarchical model in the unconscious that predisposes the relationship to dominance, co-dependence, and immaturity.

What do you think? Agree or disagree? Comment here.

And read Maggie Ross' entire post here. 

"Charles Taylor, a Canadian philosopher who says the world's problems can only be solved by considering both their secular and spiritual roots, was named recently as the recipient of a religion award billed as the world's richest annual prize."

Click here to read the full story.

The far-flung staff of Spiritual Directors International met in Federal Way, Washington, USA, on June 11 and 12. There are only three full-time staff members in the Bellevue office. Everyone else is a contract employee working from California, Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Pensylvania.

A wiki is a wonderful Web-based tool that can help you collaborate and plan with a group. However, it you have never used one, it is difficult to explain the concept. This brief video does a pretty good job of covering the basics. Click here to view it.

 

We arrange our homes to reflect our personalities and interests. Literature lovers fill their rooms with books and comfy reading chairs. An enthusiastic cook may spend thousands turning a dull kitchen into a glittering showpiece. Yet aside from occasional holiday decorations, the spiritual side of life rarely plays a starring role in the home.

Read rest of this helpful article on creating a spiritual space in our homes. Click here.

Across the country, on secular campuses as varied as Colgate University, the University of Wisconsin and the University of California, Berkeley, chaplains, professors and administrators say students are drawn to religion and spirituality with more fervor than at any time they can remember.

Read about the surge of interest in religion on college campuses in the United States in this New York Times article.

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Beliefnet.com can help you discover your true faith.

Even if YOU don't know what faith you are, Belief-O-Matic™ knows. Answer 20 questions about your concept of God, the afterlife, human nature, and more, and Belief-O-Matic™ will tell you what religion (if any) you practice...or ought to consider practicing. 

According to the test, I am 100 percent in agreement with liberal Protestant Christians and only 64 percent aligned with Roman Catholics (my tradition since birth). And 28 percent of my beliefs would also be held by athiests.

Take the personality quiz about your religious and spiritual beliefs here.

Not all members of Spiritual Directors International are comfortalbe calling spiritual direction a "ministry." Some Jewish spiritual directors use the term avodah. Some see it as a sacred call. Others say it is a sacred work or a sense of shlichut (rather than being called, being "sent"). Another option is to refer to spiritual direction as a service rather than a ministry.

How do you refer to what you do in spiritual direction? Click here to comment.

The author of The Universe is a Green Dragon and other books was the keynote speaker at the five-day conference, the annual gathering of Spiritual Directors International, an association of 6,000 spiritual guides from 51 countries. They hail from Christian, Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and other traditions.

Read more of the Vancouver Sun's coverage of the annual Spiritual Directors International events here.

Executive director, Liz Budd Ellmann, is quoted by Women's Press: 

One of the goals of Spiritual Directors International, the Washington-state based membership organization of spiritual directors, is getting the word out about what spiritual directors do and are. According to Executive Director Liz Budd Ellman, MDiv, "We are all about reaching out, letting ordinary, everyday people know that spiritual direction-there was a time when it was for the priestly class, only for the religious, pure and pious-is really available for all of us.

 Click here to read the entire story.

By profession, they're Catholic nuns, chaplains, psychotherapists, college professors, meditation teachers, even ordained clergy. How are these "spiritual directors" different from therapists, life coaches and clergy? 

To read more, click here.