The Order of the Common Life: On Spiritual Direction
This was found in our monthly newsletter from our founder and I thought it worth sharing. May God meet you in a special this week and may you notice his love that is always available whether you are aware of it or not:
From our monthly newsletter in the Order of the Common Life written by Jared Patrick Boyd:
A Glorious Diagnosis
Dear friends,
I can remember the first time, sitting with a spiritual director, that I saw myself clearly. I was in my late-twenties and struggling to make sense of my life. More accurately, I was struggling to make sense of my life with God. I sought out a spiritual director because it was clear to me that the spiritual life that I had previously been excited about was drying up.
The direction of my gaze had, up until then, been external. What would I do in the world? What career pathway would I land on? Should I buy a house or rent? What I couldn't see on my own was that, beneath the discontent I was feeling, there were some very real wounds I was carrying.
The kind of sight required to see the truth about myself had not yet developed.
And so I met with someone who began to accompany me in the work of "paying attention." Each month I met with a trained spiritual director who began to help me develop a sight for what I couldn’t see within me. I needed some help in order to get a clear view of myself.
Spiritual Accompaniment
This whole project of what we call spiritual accompaniment takes on a formal relationship in spiritual direction, but it also has more informal practices of companionship and spiritual friendship. The tradition of this kind of accompaniment was birthed in monastic communities and religious orders. And the experience of "getting a clear view of oneself" shows up like a melody running through the writings of figures like John Cassian (4th century), Gregory the Great (6th century), Teresa of Ávila (16th century), and countless others.
Gregory the Great opens his Book of Pastoral Rule by naming this work of spiritual accompaniment and helping others see what they cannot yet see as "...the care of souls [and] the art of arts."
These spiritual guides were seen as "doctors of the soul," and one of the primary questions that any good doctor begins with is "...what's going on here?"
Getting a diagnosis about any malady is difficult news to hear. Yet the tradition tells us that it is a glorious thing when we can see clearly the wounds that need to be healed or name the afflictive thoughts that keep whispering in our ear.
It can be unpleasant. But it's necessary. And it’s work we can’t do alone.
Once we get a clear view of it, we can bring it into the presence of God and watch the way that God's love and grace begin to heal us.
Some of this work of accompaniment begins in simple forms of spiritual friendship. The wound or affliction needs to be tended to but maybe not by a doctor of the soul. And then there are other things that we come across that actually do need to be tended to by someone with more than a little training. Across the spectrum of care, we need people in our lives to help us notice and nurture the work of God's love within us.
We believe, ultimately, that becoming these kinds of people will renew the Church in the love of God.
// Jared Patrick Boyd, OCL
Founder & General Director
