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May 2013

May 16, 2013

The Spiritual Practices of Spiritual Direction: The Examen

Reflecting on our lives is the heart of spiritual direction. Our life is where we...

May 01, 2013

Common Spiritual Longings

Spiritual direction is a specialty ministry. It is designed to assist those who long for...

April 2013

April 01, 2013

Warning Signs in Spiritual Direction

In spiritual direction as in much of life, you have to be careful. While most...

February 2013

February 18, 2013

Your rights in spiritual direction

When you enter a spiritual direction relationship you are entering a world in which there...

February 11, 2013

Spiritual Directors’ Code of Ethics

Although there is no governing body overseeing and monitoring spiritual directors, there is a code...

February 04, 2013

Your First Session

The first session with a new spiritual director can sometimes feel as awkward as a...

January 2013

January 28, 2013

When Spiritual Directors are Hard to Find

If you live in a metropolitan area, you will probably have lots of spiritual directors...

January 14, 2013

Intuition and the Search for a Spiritual Director

Intuition is an inner knowing that is not necessarily based on cold, hard facts. Some...

December 2012

December 31, 2012

Finding a Good Fit in a Spiritual Director

One of the advantages of having a lot of spiritual direction training programs around these...

December 24, 2012

Two Styles of Spiritual Direction to Choose From

There are two basic styles of spiritual direction you can choose from, and it’s important...

December 21, 2012

Not all Spiritual Directors have been Trained

Although I have written a lot here about training programs for spiritual directors, it is...

December 03, 2012

What to Look for in Spiritual Direction Training

Let’s say you are seriously considering the time and money commitment to a formation and...

November 2012

November 27, 2012

Spiritual Direction Training

Though the practice we call spiritual direction has its roots in the monastic desert movement...

November 04, 2012

How to Become a Spiritual Director

Since spiritual direction is a faith-oriented practice, there is no standard regulation or licensing available....

October 2012

October 25, 2012

Using a Discernment Coach

Part of every spiritual director’s training is (or should be) education in the art of...

October 16, 2012

Does a Candidate’s Faith Matter?

Does a candidate’s faith matter? Patheos has asked its bloggers to reflect on this question...

October 15, 2012

Spiritual Direction and your Leadership Team

One of the greatest gifts a spiritual director brings to any leadership team, council, session...

October 10, 2012

Hiring a Spiritual Director for your Group

For a paltry fee most any spiritually-oriented group can hire a spiritual director to lead,...

October 01, 2012

Covert Group Spiritual Direction

No matter what I’m invited to do at churches or spirituality gatherings, I’m covertly doing...

September 2012

September 24, 2012

How to do Group Spiritual Direction

Group spiritual direction is as varied as the groups and directors involved. There are two...

September 17, 2012

Group Spiritual Direction

You can learn things with others than you don’t learn by yourself or with...

September 14, 2012

What a Spiritual Direction Session Looks Like

Two people sitting in a quiet, private space perhaps with a lighted candle on a...

September 07, 2012

One-on-One Spiritual Direction

When you are in need of a safe place to share your spiritual questions and...

September 04, 2012

Spiritual Direction vs. Spiritual Friend

It's great to have a friend you can talk to about your spiritual life. But...

August 2012

August 31, 2012

Spiritual Direction vs. Counseling

There are very real differences between spiritual direction and counseling (also known as therapy). You...

August 27, 2012

Appreciating Spiritual Experiences

A common misconception is that spiritual direction is mostly about people’s discomfort or problems. In...

August 21, 2012

Wrestling with Tough Spiritual Issues

Spiritual exploration is not for the fainthearted. If all you want from your spiritual journey...

August 14, 2012

Pop Quiz: Tony Jones Asks Progressive Christians to Talk about God

I'll throw down with Tony Jones any day and talk about God. Gladly. In fact,...

August 13, 2012

Assessing Spiritual Growth

What does spiritual direction actually do for a person? How can we assess whether this...

August 10, 2012

Simple Questions to Help you Discern

Discernment doesn’t have to be some heavy, serious, complicated process. Just this week I was...

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