Through Thick and Thin: Reflections from Italy

A tear slipped from my spiritual directee’s rough, bearded face as he explored gratitude for a longtime friend now in hospice care. “Yeah,” he said. “My buddy and I have been together through thick and thin.” For him, thick and thin referred to good times and bad; times of plenty and times of want. Lately, I’ve been pondering thick and thin from a different perspective.

As my excitement grows for the upcoming Spiritual Directors International pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, memories of my first pilgrimage are bubbling up. Rome and Assisi, Italy, are places that provide some of my happiest memories of experiencing both thick and thin. Rome for me was thick. Assisi was thin. Allow me to explain.

Thick time for me is sacred time. One hour is one hour—sixty minutes—no more, no less. But that same period of time can be experienced very differently. One hour at a tedious board meeting or shopping for groceries is often experienced very differently than the same sixty minutes spent at the bedside of a dying friend or in the arms of a lover. Time has the capacity to become thick depending on the amount of attention and intention I offer to that moment. I still remember well my first shot of espresso slugged down at a Roman café; the first gelato gliding across my tongue at a local gelateria; an afternoon riposo watching an old woman water the geraniums on her sun-drenched balcony; the scent of orange blossoms on the Roman night air after a day of walking the busy streets of the Eternal City. Those moments were thick. They became sacred time. Rome provided one experience after another of thick time.

Thin space for me is sacred space. I can be in a place and experience just the surface of my surroundings. I can view everything as distinct from myself: a curiosity, another ho-hum wall of a building, or another trap for tourists. I can also dive deep through the illusion of separateness and pierce the veil. Approaching with intention, I can plumb the depth of story that pulses through every piazza, rises from every rock, and beats in every building. From my first time in Assisi twenty-two years ago, I can still hear the reverberations of whispers in the tiny room where Clare of Assisi prayed for forty-one years; the deep silence of the woods outside the hermitage of the Carceri; and the feeling of coming home when I caught my first glimpse of the pink-stoned city of Assisi rising above the Umbrian valley. Those places were thin. They became sacred space. Every cobblestone of Assisi provided access to a world of thin space.

Undertaking a pilgrimage is to open oneself to the experience of sacred times and sacred spaces. I look forward to returning to Assisi and Rome. I encourage you to find the means to join me and the other pilgrims. Together we will be with each other through thick and thin.

Editor’s note: David Lidel, TOR, is a Franciscan brother and one of the pilgrim guides for the SDI Interfaith Pilgrimage to Assisi, Italy, in 2012. Registration is still open for the pilgrimage--join us cultivate compassion in Assisi! For more information visit http://bit.ly/SDIPilgrimage. 

Reporting for the Clarion Herald in "Spiritual direction in archdiocese has important guidelines", Peter Finney, Jr. writes,

The Archdiocese of New Orleans has established training requirements for those interested in serving as spiritual directors within the archdiocese. The guidelines have been in effect for many years, said Archbishop Gregory Aymond, but they are being emphasized again because of the importance of the ministry in leading others to God.

"Spiritual direction is an ancient tradition in our church,” Archbishop Aymond said. “Those who serve in this ministry are given the privilege to guide others, to walk with others in the important journey of faith with Christ and in service to his people. It is important that spiritual directors are properly formed in order that they can lead people and serve them with genuine faith and integrity.”

Furthermore, spiritual directors are expected to:

complete an approved formation program that includes teaching on the meaning, theology and practice of spiritual direction; the theology and practice of  discernment; and what distinguishes spiritual direction from pastoral counseling, therapy, faith companioning and catechesis...

Links

• The full story: "Spiritual direction in archdiocese has important guidelines

• Helpful tips when you seek and interview a spiritual director
• Seek and Find: A Worldwide Resource Guide of Available Spiritual Directors
• Searchable interactive Google map of programs worldwide that form, train, and enrich a spiritual director
• Guidelines for Ethical Conduct published by Spiritual Directors International

Spiritual Directors International publishes Guidelines for Ethical Conduct (in English and Spanish), which provides a framework for a healthy spiritual direction relationship. You may want to ask your prospective spiritual directors about their formation and training, on-going education, if they are in supervision for their ministry and if they abide by the Guidelines for Ethical Conduct.

Spiritual Directors International does not endorse or recommend particular spiritual directors. SDI is not a certifying body, but rather a global learning community that supports spiritual directors in their ministry with educational programs, publications, and contemplative practices.

SDI celebrates Earth Day at Ignatius House in Atlanta, Georgia by planting two azaleas.

The SDIworld Coordinating Council proclaimed scripture, poetry and stories about the importance of being in nature and respecting all creation from Aboriginal Australia, Buddhist, Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions. See Atlanta, Georgia, May 2011 photographs.

Local Atlanta community members helped to plant the azaleas, watering Earth and the azaleas with water blessed during the Cultivating Compassion educational events. The water came from all over the world as participants from five continents contributed water to a blessed bowl during the education events.

During the Contemplative Retreat, participants contributed ... and poured more blessed water of hope for a compassionate future.

Link: Atlanta, Georgia, May 2011 photographs

Going green is about more than using fewer resources; it’s also about giving back resources to a world that’s given much to each of us. That’s why Spiritual Directors International plants trees (and azaleas) ...

Every one of us participates in shaping a world that supports life that flourishes. We invite you to join Spiritual Directors International’s commitment to foster forests by planting trees.

Atlanta, Georgia, May 2011 photographs

Do you have a tree planting story to share?

David DeSteno, PhD, writing in "The Calculus of Compassion: What determines whether we feel another's pain?" says,

This and related findings clearly demonstrate that the capacity for compassion, and indeed our characters in general, are not fixed, but are determined dynamically moment-to-moment outside of our awareness in an attempt to balance the pressures of social living. At first, this may seem dispiriting, but in actuality it can be liberating. In the end, each of us has the potential to be not only a sinner, but also a saint. 

• Can you identify how compassion arises within you?
• Are there specific practices that help you cultivate compassion?
• Who inspires you during this time of your life?

Full story: Psychology Today, May 11, 2011, "The Calculus of Compassion: What determines whether we feel another's pain?" David DeSteno, PhD

April 28 - May 3, 2011: Hundreds of spiritual guides and seekers participated in the "Cultivating Compassion" 2011 Spiritual Directors International educational events.

You can view photographs via a slideshow at the SDI website, and a Facebook photo album. Delight!

Links

• Atlanta slideshow
• Spiritual Directors International for spiritual care photo album on Facebook
• Conference recordings (keynote and workshops): Spiritual Directors International 2011 - Atlanta
• Future and past SDI educational events
• 2012 Boston call for workshop proposals

Please share your stories...post a reply.

Greetings from Atlanta, Georgia! Spiritual direction education will be broadcast on television thanks to AIBTV; Angela Rice and Sharon Phillip pictured here. SDI is collaborating with AIBTV to make more spiritual direction education available from the Cultivating Compassion educational events. Please send prayers of gratefulness to AIBTV!

"Compassion Mandala" by Robert Lentz, OFM

On April 22, 2011, Christians commemorate Good Friday, and Earth Day is celebrated. This is a day to cultivate compassion. In addition, the Jewish holiday of Pesach, Passover, is celebrated April 19 - 26, 2011.

In Quantum Grace, SDI member Judy Cannato writes about Good Friday: "It is easy to want to stand separate and apart today. It is tempting to want to divide the world into 'us' and 'them.' But this, we know, is an illusion."

Indeed, contemplative practice illuminates this truth--we are connected. Do you find this to be true for you?

Another perspective connecting Good Friday and the Earth comes from Care for Creation [a Franciscan spirituality of the earth], written by Ilia Delio, OSF; Keith Douglass Warner, OFM; and SDI member Pamela Wood. This is a perspective about what it could mean to take a "contemplative approach to our modern-day ecological crisis":

"If we dare to look and really see, we encounter Creation crucified--at our hands. This is truly a heartbreaking and terrifying reality, almost impossible to bear without the strong spiritual grounding that contemplation offers. If Francis were to walk our earth today, he would encounter for the first time his Sister Mother Earth, Brother Wind and Sister Water polluted and desecrated, the creatures he loved endangered and some gone forever. Francis never experienced this type of ecological devastation since it occurred largely after the Industrial Revolution, yet the way he lived his life can teach us how to contemplate such realities and then find the courage to act."

Additionally, William P. Brown and Stanley P. Saunders explain in their op-ed, "Good Friday and Earth Day: A Providential Convergence":

By a rare coincidence Earth Day falls on Good Friday this year, the first time ever. (The next time is in 2095.) “Good Friday” is the day Christians commemorate Christ’s crucifixion. Earth Day calls attention to the continuing crucifixion of our planet. While some may consider this chronological convergence a rude distraction from the Holy Week of Christ’s Passion, we believe the coincidence is providential. Both Good Friday and Earth Day draw our attention to suffering, death, and the hope of redemption.

Furthermore,

With Earth Day and Good Friday converging this year, a lesson is to be learned. It begins with the dawning awareness of a connection that has long been forgotten, namely, the indisolluble bond between Christ and creation. Christ, the Word made flesh, dwelt in a world made of flesh. Christians call this the incarnation: when God saw fit to become part of creation. Faith in the incarnation takes seriously God's creation.

Continue reading the one page op-ed, "Good Friday and Earth Day: A Providential Convergence"

Finally, in the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life article "Why Earth Day is a Jewish Holiday", Robert Rabinowitz says:

In the shema prayer, it describes both the earthly benefits--rain, fertility and abundance--for listening to the commandments and loving God, and the costs--drought and famine--for ignoring God's word (Deut. 11: 13-21). One compelling way to read this text is to think of it as suggesting that a major way for us, as individuals and as a society, to judge our actions and policies is by their environmental consequences.

Reflect

• What is evoked in you from these insights and perspectives? 
• What contemplative practices will help you honor the Christian teachings from Good Friday, Passover from Judaism, and Earth Day?

Please reply with your thoughts.

When we decide to make time for contemplative practice, of any type, we cultivate spaciousness which leads us to act with greater compassion, empathy, creativity, service, and connection. Our contemplative practice affects ourselves, our interactions with family, in the workplace, within our communities, with the Earth, and the Sacred some name God.

Meditation makes the daily news as people continue to seek meaning and connection. Contemplative people cultivate compassion with prayer, meditation, and contemplative practice. Jeff Gitterman, reporting for The Huffington Post in the article "The Importance of Meditation" writes:

The first step in learning to harness the power of our attention is to become aware of how it moves. To do this, we need to find a way to disengage from the stream of thoughts that preoccupies us. This is one of the fundamental reasons that people practice meditation, in all its many forms.

Link to the rest of the story from The Huffington Post, "The Importance of Meditation"

Do you meditate or pray? What is your contemplative practice, and how does it change you?
Please offer your thoughts for the blog readers.

You're invited!
Cultivating Compassion with Earth Hour
Turn off or dim electricity

Saturday, 26 March 2011
8:30 p.m. local time
Where: Your place
Join people around the globe and switch electrical lights off for one hour
Pause, slow down, savor stillness

Learn about Earth Hour On Saturday 27 March, Earth Hour 2010 became the biggest Earth Hour ever. A record 128 countries and territories joined the global display of climate action. Iconic buildings and landmarks from Asia Pacific to Europe and Africa to the Americas switched off. People across the world from all walks of life turned off their lights and came together in celebration and contemplation of the one thing we all have in common – our planet. In 2011...

Ten Reasons Why Earth Hour is Cool

Make a Virtual Lantern

Make a Virtual Light Switch

Cultivating compassion begins with ourselves, extends to our families and community, and spreads throughout the planet. Everything is within the scope of acting with compassion and intention. As the video says (and a spiritual director affirms): "You don't need to be an expert, you just need to be you, and do your part."

A poem from the beloved poet, Mary Oliver, in celebration of the Vernal Equinox. Pause, relish the changing season, in both the northern and southern hemispheres. "Are there trees near you / and does your own soul need comforting?"
Peace in all ways to you...

Such Singing in the Wild Branches
-- Mary Oliver

It was spring
and finally I heard him
among the first leaves—
then I saw him clutching the limb

in an island of shade
with his red-brown feathers
all trim and neat for the new year.
First, I stood still

and thought of nothing.
Then I began to listen.
Then I was filled with gladness—
and that's when it happened,

when I seemed to float,
to be, myself, a wing or a tree—
and I began to understand
what the bird was saying,

and the sands in the glass
stopped
for a pure white moment
while gravity sprinkled upward

like rain, rising,
and in fact
it became difficult to tell just what it was that was singing—
it was the thrush for sure, but it seemed

not a single thrush, but himself, and all his brothers,
and also the trees around them,
as well as the gliding, long-tailed clouds
in the perfectly blue sky— all, all of them

were singing.
And, of course, yes, so it seemed,
so was I.
Such soft and solemn and perfect music doesn't last

for more than a few moments.
It's one of those magical places wise people
like to talk about.
One of the things they say about it, that is true,

is that, once you've been there,
you're there forever.
Listen, everyone has a chance.
Is it spring, is it morning?

Are there trees near you,
and does your own soul need comforting?
Quick, then— open the door and fly on your heavy feet; the song
may already be drifting away.

— Mary Oliver, "Such Singing in the Wild Branches"
     Owls and Other Fantasies: Poems and Essays, Beacon Press, Boston, 2003, pp. 8-9