The Christian Century looks at the growing popularity of spiritual direction among mainline Protestants, especially pastors:

More and more pastors have made spiritual direction a central part of their ministries. The spirituality shaped by spiritual direction might be of special importance to pastors, Reed observes, because the demands of ministry are such that pastors often function out of a “false self.” They may put on masks to hide their true struggles and opinions rather than risk displeasing those they serve. For many pastors, that false self becomes habitual, and they lack a safe place in which to take off the mask.

Spiritual direction offers a way to attend to God’s presence in one’s life in the context of a trusted relationship. Spiritual direction “is not about what we do, but about who we are,” says Reed. “It helps us see how we’ve been operating falsely and begins to move us to the center.”

Ruth Workman, a spiritual director,  describes how Ignatian prayer invigorated her prayer life:

Next we were introduced to an Ignatian practice, a prayer of imagination. I was asked to read the passage where Jesus says, “Take up your cross and follow me.” I was then told to engage my senses. What did I see in that scene? How did it smell? What sounds did I hear? Were there any taste or touch sensations? I was then to imagine myself in that story, participate in it as it was revealed in the Bible, and then allow my imagination to continue to unfold the action and dialogue of the story.

Until this point in my life, my prayer had been filled almost entirely with words. I had been taught the ACTS of prayer–adoration, confession, thanksgiving and supplication–as a teen and had continued to use this as my model of prayer, along with devotional reading. Suddenly in this Ignatian practice, Jesus and I were having a dialogue rather than my doing all the talking. I had felt like a flower that had been parched in the desert. Suddenly I was showered with sweet, refreshing water.

Joseph Tetlow, SJ, is one of the of the most respected and knowledgeable Ignatian spiritual directors.   For years he guided the 250 Jesuit retreat houses around the world in his capacity as head of the Jesuit General’s Secretariat for Ignatian Spirituality. So when Fr. Tetlow says something unusual about spiritual direction, it’s a good idea to listen.

What he says is that spiritual directors sometimes direct. You don’t hear that very often.  Many spiritual directors don’t like to be called “directors.”  The usual description of the job emphasizes listening and accompanying people on their spiritual journeys.  That’s surely important, probably the most important part of the job.  And Ignatius himself insisted that spiritual directors not get in the way of God dealing directly with people.  Nevertheless, says Fr. Tetlow, spiritual directors do direct.

You tell a desolate woman to change her prayer as it’s mainly self-absorption. You instruct a young Jesuit not to change his current way of praying. You challenge a married woman, telling her that she would be wise to break off a relationship that is disturbing her marriage. You do none of this easily or without reflecting, and never harshly or judgmentally.  But you do it.

In fact, he says, this is one thing that distinguished Ignatian spiritual direction from other kinds.

Susan Stabile, an Ignatian spiritual director and law professor, distinguishes between the desire that causes pain and the desire that motivates us:

Attachment (what might be called disordered desire) always feels tumultuous, unsettling and lacking in peace. Deep desire has an element of peace in it and it pulls us generally forward rather than roiling uncontrollably. And they are very different in their effects: Clinging and attachment incapacitate, deep desire energizes. Clinging and attachment lead only to pain and a feeling of incompleteness. Deep desire leads to satisfaction and peacefulness.

Read the whole thing.

Paul Coutinho, SJ, an Indian Jesuit currently teaching at St. Louis University, has written two popular books How Big Is Your God? and Just as You Are. St. Louis University has released videos of four workshops on Ignatian spirituality that he gave last year to SLU staff. The topics are familiar, but Coutinho comes at them from an Eastern angle that is quite fascinating.

I’d like to respond to Autumn’s comment to my earlier post about living the “examen”ed life. She asks about what to do when it is difficult to find a spiritual director. Since she raises an important question I thought it more helpful to dedicate a new post to it, rather than bury my response below hers.

So, Autumn, thanks for your question. I hope many people have the same problem you do. I don’t mean that in a negative way; I mean it, rather, as a way of recognizing that when God moves our hearts with desire for a deeper relationship, it is good to seek spiritual direction. And I hope that many people become aware of that same desire.

First, a practical point. I too lived in a small town (Indiana, Pennsylvania) for eight years and still was able to find a great spiritual director, a Carmelite sister, by asking around. Ask local pastors; call the diocesan office; call the local college campus ministry offices.

Second, though, a broader point. Spiritual direction, for Ignatius, is a place for sacred conversation. Primarily the role of the “one who is giving the exercises” (Ignatius never uses the word “director”—it’s really a misnomer) is to help a person see through the distractions in order that God might deal directly with the person. When Ignatius was first giving the exercises, he was a lay person; and many of his exercitants were also lay people.

Following that logic, one might observe that spiritual conversation between two people serious about trying to know God more deeply is a good thing. They need not be experts. Perhaps for the short term, it is possible for a couple to engage in spiritual conversation as a way of coming to greater understanding about the movements of the spiritual life.

For the longer term, though, it is good to keep in mind Teresa of Ávila’s advice that in seeking a spiritual director it is better to find one who is learned than one who is pious. Consider, then, that the desire to know God is itself a gift of God’s grace; bring that desire into prayer and ask that God might help you to find someone with whom you might grow further in knowledge and love of God. Allow the experience of longing for spiritual growth to be in itself a way of praising God. Recall the words of Paul in Romans 8:26: “we do not know how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with sighs too deep for words.” If we are allowing the Holy Spirit to pray in us, then we might trust that this same Spirit will guide us toward greater growth in prayer.

Joseph Tetlow, SJ, is one of the Jesuits’ leading authorities on spiritual direction. For years he worked in Rome as head of the Society’s Secretariat for Ignatian Spirituality. In this video he talks about Ignatian prayer and why someone might want to have a spiritual director.

Favorite quote: “Prayer is as natural to us as breathing is. We don’t have to be taught how to pray. We have only to be invited to start praying and then to be helped to become more conscious of our prayer.”

Fear is the root of evil in the world, writes William Barry, SJ, in his book Spiritual Direction and the Encounter with God. Thus, real religion must have a real answer to fear.  He quotes this wonderful aphorism from the theologian John Macmurray:

The maxim of illusory religion runs: “‘Fear not; trust in God and he will see that none of the things you fear will happen to you;” that of real religion, on the contrary, is “Fear not; the things that you are afraid of are quite likely to happen to you, but they are nothing to be afraid of.”

One of the central exercises in the Spiritual Exercises is the meditation on “three types of people.” It invites us to give a long, searching look at how free we really are. It’s designed to help us achieve greater freedom by detaching ourselves from desires that entangle us.

Lisa Kelly, an Ignatian Associate and blogger, has a perceptive comment on “three types of people:”

I think we are misled though by Ignatius naming these people as static “types” rather than dynamic beings, types of persons you cross some line and supposedly become forever. In this life, I don’t know that any of us is ever static—we are constantly moving…either towards or away from God. Our petty wants move us away. Our focused desire to be One moves us toward God. And on that dynamic journey we each have times of being all three people—times we are just too busy and don’t make the time to grow in this instant, times we do and say all the right things, but don’t face what is really hindering us from growing, and…times of equilibrium, when we can cast off our wants, knowing true fulfillment lies beyond them.

Read the whole thing.

Spiritual direction comes in many sizes and flavors. What is distinctive about Ignatian spiritual direction? asks Brian O’Leary, SJ.  He lists five elements: A theological vision rooted in the Spiritual Exercises; flexibility; a partnership; a focus on deep desires; and the rules for discernment.

His essay is published in The Way, a journal of Ignatian spirituality published by the British Jesuits.  O’Leary’s article begins on p. 9 of the PDF.