Spiritual Direction
Spiritual guidance on-line:
Ancient practice and new technology.
Do you long to nourish your hunger for God?
Do you want to discover God in all the complexity of your life?
Do you need someone you can turn to for wisdom and perspective?
Since the dawn of the Christian faith, spiritually hungry individuals have been finding the answer to these longings in the tradition of “spiritual direction.” And now, through henrinouwen.org, this time-honored spiritual resource is available “on-line.”
Using this web site, you’ll be able to select and contact a potential “spiritual director” – someone with experience in offering spiritual guidance and assisting individuals in spiritual development. Then, via the phone or email, you’ll build a relationship with this person as they walk with you on your life’s journey.
The links in this section will help you understand the possibilities and the process, and will provide instructions on how to go further, if you desire.
A quote from Reaching Out, by Henri Nouwen
How do we know that we are not deluding ourselves, that we are not selecting those words that best fit our passions, that we are not just listening to the voice of our own imagination?...Who can determine if [our] feelings and insights are leading [us] in the right direction?
Our God is greater than our own heart and mind, and too easily we are tempted to make our heart’s desires and our mind’s speculations into the will of God. Therefore, we need a guide, a director, a counselor who helps us to distinguish between the voice of God and all other voices coming from our own confusion or from dark powers far beyond our control.
We need someone who encourages us when we are tempted to give it all up, to forget it all, to just walk away in despair. We need someone who discourages us when we move too rashly in unclear directions or hurry proudly to a nebulous goal. We need someone who can suggest to us when to read and when to be silent, which words to reflect upon and what to do when silence creates much fear and little peace.