Knowledge has entertained me and it has shaped me and it has failed me. Something in me still starves. In what is probably the most serious inquiry of my life, I have begun to look past reason, past the provable, in other directions. Now I think there is only one subject worth my attention and that is the precognition, the condition of my own spiritual state. I am not talking about having faith necessarily, although one hopes to. What I mean by spirituality is not theology, but attitude. Such interest nourishes me beyond the finest compendium of facts. In my mind now, in any comparison of demonstrated truths and unproven but vivid intuitions, the truth loses.
Mary Oliver, Upstream page 153
My story: In my late thirties I found myself in that place Mary Oliver describes above as the search for my own spiritual state. I’ve since heard it referred to as a spiritual hunger. Maybe it’s really a hunger calling us. I had so many questions but each question only seemed to uncover another question. I wanted to share these questions and my experiences with someone, but I didn’t know who? It was within this search I discovered spiritual direction/companioning.
What is spiritual companioning? It is traditionally used to describe an ancient and contemporary practice of companioning another in their spiritual journey. A spiritual companion is a person who helps us look at where the Spirit is moving in our life as well as at our responses to that movement. It is an opportunity to intentionally reflect on one’s relationship with what is often called God, the Divine, Love or Reality in the presence of another who listens with compassion. An aspect of prayer saturates and embraces the spiritual companioning relationship. It is found in most faith traditions. It is not counseling, therapy, or pastoral care. With this information I searched out my own spiritual director(s) and have been companioning for many years. Today my spiritual journey includes living a contemplative life of silence, prayer and meditation, daily journaling, practicing a Twelve Step Program and sharing this spiritual path with a spiritual companion.
There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled. There is a void in your soul, ready to be filled. You feel it, don’t you?
Rumi
Sharing in Spiritual Companioning: Due to the benefits of my own personal experience with having a spiritual companion it is my desire to accompany others who are in that state of spiritual hunger, asking their own deep questions, or wanting a deeper experience in prayer and meditation or seeking the deeper presence of God in their lives. So in the summer of 2019 I completed a training course in Spiritual Direction from the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs. If this perks an interest in working with me in a practice of spiritual companionship, please contact me and let’s see where it leads.
Spiritual companionship is a relationship in which a companion allows, through deep listening, the spiritual story of the other to unfurl. Through this relationship, the person seeking companionship is empowered to explore a deeper relationship with God, Allah, Tao, The Universe, or however you may refer to the Ground of All Being.
Spiritual Directors International