Where are you taking me?

I was recently listening to a podcast where someone was trying to explain spiritual direction.  The example they chose was comparing a spiritual director to someone holding a map and helping to direct you in the right direction.  While I applaud them for attempting to shed light on spiritual direction, I couldn’t disagree more with the analogy they used.

There is a pretty common consensus in the world of spiritual direction that most of us don’t really like the term “direction.” We feel more like a companion, or someone who walks alongside you in your spiritual journey.  If anyone is holding a map it is the seeker, and the director is there to ask the questions.  It is my belief that our soul knows where to go, and the work of spiritual direction is to uncover truths our soul already knows and we’ve perhaps spent a lifetime covering up with misdirection, outside influences, and other people’s opinions of who we ought to be.

The map is already within us, and the spiritual director is there to ask the questions that might bring us back to our center, or our soul.  And this can be long, slow work.  Depending on how deeply covered our true self is, there may be a lot of work to do.  As is the case with a lot of self care, the uncovering is actually a lifelong process that never truly ends, but is continually unfolding.

To follow the map analogy, the director’s job is to ask the clarifying questions: to find out if your map is facing the right direction, or what it might be a map of, or which road you would like to take, or perhaps it’s time to choose a new road or to head to a new place.

In actuality the director is not directing anything or anyone.  The roll of the spiritual director is to come alongside people, and help them search for their own truth, their own soul, their own story, and to help them connect to a sense of the divine or something bigger than themselves.  

It’s really a sacred dance that involves a lot of circling, unfolding, returning, stepping forward and backward as you listen for the music that sets your soul on fire.