“The sorrowing, the sick, the unwanted, the lonely, both young and old, rich and poor, all come to my window. No one listens, they tell me, and so I listen and tell them what they have just told me. And, I sit in silence, listening, letting them grieve. ‘Julian, you are wise,’ they say, ‘You have been gifted with understanding.’ All I did was listen. For I believe full surely that God’s spirit is in us all, giving light, wisdom, understanding, speaking words in us when we cannot speak, showing us gently what we would not see; what we are afraid to see; so that we may show pity, mercy, forgiveness to ourselves.” (Julian of Norwich, in the play “Julian” by J. Janda)
The goal of spiritual direction is to create that safe space in which an openness and responsiveness to God’s presence in one’s life may be attended to and nurtured. The reality of God’s presence is revealed in the everyday events of life. In spiritual direction the directee invites the director to walk around that lived experience with her or him so that the fullness and richness of life in all of its diverse facets may be revealed to one’s self, and thus the fullness of the Divine presence may be more fully realized, and one’s life may be more abundant.
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Sr Sharon Gray SCN
