I was introduced to the labyrinth as a tool for spiritual growth about ten years ago during my initial training in spiritual direction. Since that time I have been drawn to explore the spirituality of the labyrinth in greater depth for my personal growth, as well as introducing it to my parish church as an annual event we did during Lent.

The more that I write and speak to groups about spiritual direction, the more aware I’m becoming of the rapidly growing interest in the labyrinth. Throughout the world, people of all denominations are discovering its many gifts by including this sacred tool in their own spiritual practice. While the origins of the labyrinth are shrouded in the distant past, it still has much to offer and teach us today. If one is able to relax and approach it with an open mind, the spiritual benefits of this walking meditation can have a significant impact on most anyone. 

In this short video, Spiritual Directors International member Tara Owens interviews Fr. Richard Rohr, a Franciscan priest who is the founding director at the Center for Action and Contemplation in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Fr. Rohr is widely known for his expertise and outspokenness on the themes of Scripture as liberation, the integration of action and contemplation, community building, peace and justice issues, male spirituality, the Enneagram, and eco-spirituality.

As a pastor (or commissioned ministry professional) you have the privilege of listening to people pour out their hearts as they daily face incredible challenges. I know you’re always looking for ways you can help them, and I also know that you just don’t have the time to give to each person, which can be very frustrating for you and for the person you’d like to help. When I was a parish pastor, I often didn’t have the expertise I needed to address some of the issues which turned up. That’s a very humbling position to be in, especially if you’ve identified your primary role as one of helping people.

One way of overcoming this trap is to connect with persons trained and skilled to help your parishioners in ways that you are not able to provide. For example, you may already have a wonderful network of dedicated and trained lay persons such as Stephen Ministers, Eucharistic Ministries, Deacons, Elders, and so forth. Maybe you have a Parish Nurse who provides valuable resources for persons facing physical challenges or issues relating to aging and care-giving. Or you already refer persons to Christian Counselors or other therapists and offer to help them along the path towards healing and wholeness.

A specialty area which you may not have considered is spiritual direction. 

Una Agnew, SSL (Sisters of St. Louis), is spirituality professor at Milltown Institute, one of the premier centers for the study of theology, philosophy and spirituality in Ireland. She is the author of The Mystical Imagination of Patrick Kavanagh: A Buttonhole in Heaven, in which she uses the ancient mystical stages of awakening, purification, illumination and transformation to illustrate the fundamental mysticism of the poetry and the person of Patrick Kavanagh. 

In this video, Sr. Agnew discusses the role of silence as a spiritual practice and its role in the art of spiritual direction.

This essay explores The Dark Night of the Soul: A Psychiatrist Explores the Connection Between Darkness and Spiritual Growth by Dr. Gerald May and describes how the book illuminates my own experience of spiritual darkness, the implications of spiritual direction for recovery from addiction, and the meaning of May’s statement (p. 179) that “God is nada, no-thing” for the director’s understanding of God. This essay, based on personal experience and previous exposure to the theology of St. John of the Cross will interact with May’s text and my theological tradition to address these areas. 

Losses are inevitable and are ever present in all lives. Grief is a normal response to loss whether the loss involves the loss of a job or a demotion, divorce, a house that burns down, a favorite car that is destroyed in a wreck, an “F” on a report card, a move, or any of the other losses each of us experiences as we live our lives. Grief is a normal reaction to any loss and is experienced holistically--physically, emotionally, socially, and spiritually.

Henri Nouwen provides great insight into the spiritual dynamics of grief, loss, and coping with death in The Inner Voice of Love: A Journey Through Anguish to Freedom. For spiritual directors guiding grieving people and those experiencing various personal crises, Nouwen’s journal can be a great tool to open the directee to expressing what he or she is experiencing deep within one’s being.

This post is keyed to Kevin Culligan's “Working with Darkness in Spiritual Direction” found in Presence: An International Journal of Spiritual Direction, September 2010, 44-52.

Kevin Culligan provides the reader with a concise roadmap of the cartography of the spiritual journey as mapped out by St. John of the Cross. He focuses on two major works, The Ascent of Mount Carmel and The Dark Night of the Soul, both considered to be foundational resources for “understanding the phenomenon of darkness in the spiritual life” (44). Spiritual directors will find Culligan’s work helpful in assessing which stage of the spiritual journey their directees are currently experiencing and determining appropriate ways to assist them in moving forward. Additionally, it is always good to have an idea of where one is personally on the journey as well.

The author’s opening lines are familiar to anyone who has worked in spiritual direction for a few years. Directees come to sessions voicing concerns about their inability to pray, the “dryness” of their spiritual lives, their seeming inability to understand the “darkness” of their journey, and wondering if something has gone horribly wrong. Culligan’s paper provides the director with tools to address these questions and provide hope and support for the directee during these painful periods.