Rejoice

Spiritual Direction

Spiritual direction is an ancient Christian practice in which one person helps another notice where God has been active in their life. It’s essentially a ministry of listening, noticing, and discerning: listening to another person with prayerful attention; helping them notice where God has been at work; and working with them to identify and interpret the Spirit’s movements, so they might discern what their own actions should be.

Spiritual direction is not a relationship in which one person tells the other what to think or do. It’s about offering caring support, not writing prescriptions. It’s different from therapy, which is more about problem solving at an emotional, psychological, or mental health level. Spiritual direction also isn’t pastoral counseling, which is also usually therapeutic in nature, though the care is delivered by spiritual leaders. 

In spiritual direction, the focus will be on your experience of God. Where has your spiritual journey taken you, and where is it leading you? How have you seen God at work in your life? What is your image of God, how has that changed over time, and how does that image affect your feelings about God and yourself? What kinds of issues are you dealing with in life? Work-life balance? Sexuality and gender? Strains on important relationships? Boredom or burnout at work? Perhaps you’ve lost someone dear to you, and are struggling with grief. Or maybe you’re fearful about the future of our nation, and of the earth itself?

All of these and more can be addressed in spiritual direction. Much of the time that looks like talk, but sometimes it’s silence, prayer, or even making art. People seek out spiritual direction during times of crisis in their lives, including crises of faith. But they also may pursue it at a time of spiritual awakening and joy. The only requirement is a desire to be attentive to the presence and movements of God in your life. 

If you’re interested in considering spiritual direction, contact Susan Pitchford at spitchford@epiphanyseattle.org. Susan is in the second year of a two year training program run by the Benedictine sisters at The Priory in Lacey, WA. Starting in September, 2024, she’ll be seeing directees free of charge, under the supervision of program leaders while still in training. Spiritual direction usually consists of one hour meetings once a month, and will take place in Christie House on the Epiphany Campus. 

As with therapy and pastoral counseling, what is shared in spiritual direction sessions is held in confidence. Anything discussed in supervision sessions for training purposes will strictly maintain the directee’s anonymity.