Compassionate Listening

Since I've announnced my new calling and career path, I have been asked,  "just what is a Spiritual Director?" .

Spiritual direction is the contemplative practice of helping another person awaken to the mystery of the Divine in all of life, the process of accompanying people on a spiritual journey. Through Spiritual direction we become more aware of the many ways in which God may be touching our lives, directly or indirectly. Spiritual direction helps us learn how to live in peace, with compassion, promoting justice, giving honor and glory to that which is beyond naming.   A Spiritual Director is a compassionate listener.  Listening to another person with a loving, caring, open heart allows room for the Spirit to become present and provide guidance.  A Spiritual Director listens and provides a person with practices that can help them open more fully to God's presence in their life.  It is not a process of instructing the person in specific beliefs but an openness that helps another person become more aware of the way the Spirit touches their life and the places they are being nudged by the Spirit to make changes or move forward.

As we reach out to share the lives of those around us, remember our advice is not nearly as effective as listening with an open heart.   

Compassionate listening is crucial. We listen with the willingness to relieve the suffering of the other person, not to judge or argue with her. We listen with all our attention. Even if we hear something that is not true, we continue to listen deeply so the other person can express her pain and release her tensions within herself. If we reply to her or correct her, the practice will not bear fruit. We just listen. - Thich Nhat Hanh

Awaken!

Over the past several years I have felt myself become very restless to the point of resistant to the rather limited words that so often we use to describe the Great Mystery that is God.  While I do believe that The Holy Trinity is a very useful metaphor for that which is beyond our comprehension, I do not believe it is the only true way to refer to the Great I Am.  The feminine aspects of the nature of God, the nurturing creativity giving birth to the world, gives us another glimpse at the wonder of God.  Using feminine language for God is not contrary to what we read in the Bible.  Indeed the Hebrew word Ruah which starts my poem below is the word used to refer to the Spirit of God many times in the Bible.  The name Sophia is also used to refer to the wisdom of God.  Even the use of the word Goddess, then is not a pagan image, but just another image to illustrate another dimension of the unfathomable mystery that is the Creator and Sustainer of All.  I pray that even if the masculine Trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are the images of God that you are most comfortable with, that you may also be able to appreciate the feminine nature of God and will be blessed by the poem below. 
May the Spirit of God, Ruah, be with you as you walk your journey.

Awaken

Ruah, Spirit, your breath ripples the waters of my soul

Visions of your movement through the Mother Tree

Awaken my eyes to your presence.

The rustle of the Sacred Grove saying

“Awake,  Awake,  Awake!”

“The Spirit of Sophia is stirring the foundation of your life.”

With the cool taste of the breeze upon my lips,

My heart yearns for the closeness of your presence.

Fragrances sweet and earthy from the bowers of Mother Earth, cry out,

“Pluck me from the hidden garden”

“Revel in the aroma of the Goddess alive in the world”

I am awake!  I can see, hear, taste, smell and touch the creation of the Goddess.

Within each flower, each stream, each tree, each creature, each person I encounter,

The Spirit of Sophia is present, alive!

Aaah, even in the inner secret places of my soul

The spark of the Spirit is glowing, alive

Ready to burst forth in song!

Karen Campbell, May 1, 2011

Dance of the Migrating Birds

What glorious choreography as I glance into the sky to witness a flock of migrating birds in flight, moving as one, swooping, clustering, spreading, turning with a synchronicity that bears the touch of God.  It is often nature that shows us in such profound ways what we need to know about our lives and our connection with the Divine.

Life is not some random flapping about, but is choreographed just like the dance of migrating birds.  They never take a straight route to their destination, but instead seem to glory in the flight, a ballet of cooperation and delight, following a very winding flight pattern but always with "South" in mind.

My spiritual journey has swooped this way, turned and gone that way, circled back to this understanding and then taken a graceful arch a different way, but always seeking my "South,"  my ever growing ever changing realization of the Divine and of humankind's search for a closer connection and fuller understanding of our Source.

What lessons are there for me to see?  Which way will my dance of migration to my Divine Source take me today?  I think I will just open my eyes and experience the glory of the flight!