THE
SPIRITUAL DIRECTION
COVENANT

Spiritual Direction is the art of prayerful conversation in a context of trust. Spiritual Directors are faithful companions who actively listen to your life stories with attentive discernment for the movement of the Holy Spirit in your life circumstances.

 

Thomas Merton clarified the role by observing:

​"… the director is not to be regarded as a magical machine for solving cases and declaring the holy will of God beyond all hope of appeal, but a trusted friend who, in an atmosphere of sympathetic understanding, helps and strengthens us in our groping efforts to correspond with the grace of the Holy Spirit, who alone is the True Director..."

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God is the true guide and director—the human spiritual director is like a coach or midwife, assisting you in noticing and responding to the inner voice of God.  The director is primarily interested in your experience of God and how you are accepting God’s invitation to live together. Conversations are a spiritual exploration into the truth about God, yourself, your relationships, your work, and interactions with the world.

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Spiritual Directors assume that God is present and active in your daily life in a multitude of (usually unnoticed) ways. When you slow down and reflectively pay attention to what is happening in and around you, awareness of God's presence emerges. The more self-aware you become the more you discover about God; the more you know God, the more you will know yourself and your vocational purposes.  Such intimacy with God naturally leads to transformation, healing, and action.

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My work as your director is to pay attention to your spiritual experience, points of self-discovery, and to discern with you how God is showing up in daily life. I will not try to analyze or fix you, even though our conversations may involve deep personal sharing and exploration of personal joys, crisis, and suffering. Spiritual direction is a conversation of the heart and uses all our human faculties (intuition, emotion, imagination, senses, and intellect) to discern God’s presence and invitation for you, as you understand it. I promise to listen with you for the voice of God and to help you notice and deepen the dialogue between you.

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Our conversations are always confidential. However, for my professional growth, I ask your permission to share pieces of information with my supervisor without using your name.  It is customary for directors to be under direction and supervision as part of our commitment to improving our practice. ​