Finding a Spiritual Director

A requirement of the learning community was to participate in spiritual direction on a regular basis. I don't recall receiving much, well, direction in the process of choosing a spiritual director, but then again, those first few weeks were quite a blur…

I didn't really understand the nature of spiritual direction at the time and imagined it was more akin to mentoring or even giving advice. So I definitely was going to proceed very cautiously into a relationship where somebody was going to tell me what to do.

In the end I chose a pastor that I have known for years. I don't attend his church and he is not a part of my denomination. The qualities that influenced my decision were as follows:

He has a solid reputation among people.
He is involved in both the religious community and the wider community life as a whole.
He's educated.

It turns out that I was completely wrong about the nature of spiritual direction, but the spiritual director is working out just fine.

I think the Bakke text offers some well thought out guidance in the selection of a director. The quality that stands out to me the most is "depend on the Spirit's leading in the direction relationship and want to listen to God rather than be guided by agendas set by themselves or directees" (105). I've already had my quota of pat answers and wrongheaded advice in the name of God, thank you…

Knowing what I do now, I probably would have asked him about his philosophy of spiritual direction and his own pursuit of the inner life. But like I said, the choice of director is working out great regardless.

WORK CITED

Bakke, Jeannette A. Holy Invitations. Grand Rapids: Baker, 2000.