A Festival for Meaning

“Have you found it yet?” I asked with a smile. The woman peered up from skimming the brochures and copies of Presence journal I had on display. She tilted her head, confused. “Meaning,” I went on, “have you found meaning yet?”

A smile washed over her cream-colored face and a chuckle escaped her. “Oh,” she responded, “wouldn’t that be nice…”

Before I could reply, she backed away into the bustling crowd at the fourth annual Seattle University Search for Meaning Book Festival in Seattle, Washington, USA. It was a beautiful Saturday in the Pacific Northwest, and thousands of book enthusiasts had come to campus for over forty authors and keynote speakers Mary Oliver and James Martin, SJ.

Spiritual Directors International was invited to the Festival, along with the Ignatian Spirituality Center, to offer spiritual direction to this body of seekers. Sixteen local spiritual directors and members of SDI volunteered to offer hospitality and the ministry of spiritual direction to the curious and called—over twenty individuals engaged in a “mini” session of spiritual direction, receiving new insights in their own search for something more.
 

Volunteers Carol Hickman and Susan Harper
spread the word about spiritual direction.

As Festival participants continued to pass by the SDI table, learning about spiritual direction, SDI’s many publications, and the global learning community, I continued to ask the question: “Did you find it yet—have you found meaning?”

Finally, one young woman with curly black hair looked at me and responded, “Yes. Of course.” And then thinking, she added with a smile, “Well, at least a piece of it!”  

At the end of the day, SDI asked several of our members to reflect on the Festival experience. Some chose to share about the authors they heard speak, others will share about the experience of offering spiritual direction to new seekers. Please stay tuned for their stories. It is our hope that you, too, will draw meaning from their words.