Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Sick Pilgrim

Home
Catholic
Wanted: Spiritual Director for Two Sick Pilgrims

Wanted: Spiritual Director for Two Sick Pilgrims

Last updated on: March 16, 2016 at 8:59 am by Jessica Mesman Griffith

Wanted: Spiritual Director for Two Sick Pilgrims 2016-03-16T08:59:11-05:00 Jessica Mesman Griffith

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

In my first post for this blog, I wrote that we were setting up a soap box and hoping some interesting people would show up. Boy, did you. Our traffic for the last two months caught us off guard. We’d assumed we’d be writing for ourselves here (though we secretly had modest dreams of speaking to four or five others). Of course, we suspected there were people out there who might identify with the struggles and obsessions we share (*please don’t remind us that we aren’t special snowflakes*) but we were surprised, relieved, thrilled, and maybe a little concerned to find that there are way more fellow travelers than we suspected. All these pilgrims, seeking healing, beauty, companionship. Hungry for real food.

The thing is, we thought we’d have plenty of time to mark the trail and figure out exactly where we’re taking this band of misfits. Now we find ourselves on a path in the Dark Wood, all of us standing around with our packs, looking at each other and thinking, where to now?

Remember that moment in Superman?

Superman: Easy, miss. I’ve got you.

Lois Lane: You – you’ve got me? Who’s got you?

I’m a writer, not a preacher or minister or a counselor, so I won’t ever want to presume to offer you advice or guidance. When I write for US Catholic, a priest looks over my work to make sure I haven’t gone off the farm. He doesn’t censor me, but he points me in the direction of the facts about my arcane, often obscure, sometimes incomprehensible religious tradition. If you join me here, we’re in this together, which means I’m just as likely to get you lost as to illuminate the right of way. I aim to write well, but don’t hesitate to point out when I’ve obviously taken a wrong turn theologically or spiritually. That’s the point of all this, really. We’re walking together.

In my Band of Misfits post, I referenced the types of people Eric Elnes suggests you might gather round you in the Dark Wood. The first is a mentor–what Catholics and other churchy types call a spiritual director. Jonathan and I have been thinking we’d all benefit from such a person, an experienced field guide we can check in with now and then to make sure we’re not becoming a cult or anything.

So, with hopes that the perfect candidate will float down to our soapbox with an umbrella, we wrote this job description.

WANTED: THE PERFECT SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR FOR SICK PILGRIMS

A love of images of flaming hearts pierced by swords is preferred but not required (image source: author)

The ideal candidate will:

1. Be Catholic. We’re all about ecumenism, but this person needs to understand our particular neuroses. We’re partial to Jesuits around here but we aren’t too picky.

2. Love art, believe the Church should foster the creation of art and not that schlocky kitsch we settle for in most of our parishes, and understand artists as witnesses to the transcendent. We make no apologies for the pretentiousness of that sentence.

3. Believe in the devil. This is a tough one. You should believe in him, but not to the point of obsession. What we’re looking for is a healthy belief in the adversary who wants to devour our souls. Yes, we wrote that with a straight face. See number one.

4. Jonathan says this person should be familiar with Joy of Evangelism by Pope Francis. And get how art can be an expression of that joy. (note to self: read Joy of Evangelism)

Gifts of the Dark Wood

Previous Post

March 15, 2016

The Things that are Saving Our Lives Right Now, March edition

Next Post

March 16, 2016 St. Patrick, Five Songs and Three Books for a Pilgrimage (It Begins)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Approaching Mystery art Book Reviews Catholic Ghost Story Catholicism community Confession Current Events Dark Devotional Deconstruction Deconstruction Fellow Travelers I Want To Believe Interview Laudato Si Lent Mary Matthew's Letters Movie Reviews Music Reviews Our Charism Personal Essay Pilgrims Pope Francis Popular Piety Prayer Publishing Richard Beck Saints Satan Sheed and Ward Sick Pilgrim Charism Sick Pilgrim Chats Sick Pilgrim Events Sick Pilgrim Travelin' Medicine Show Sick Pilgrimage to The West Sick Pilgrims Small Joys Spiritual Autobiography Spooky Files of Ave Maria Magazine Spooky October Spooky Pilgrim Spooky Pilgrimage Strange Journey The Inklings Things Keeping Us Going Trying to Say God TV Reviews Uncategorized women in the Catholic Church Wonder Podcast Write the Vision

Select a Month February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

How many books are in the Bible (Protestant version)?

Select your answer to see how you score.

66 40 73 12