Spiritual Direction

People wiser and way more experienced than I have tried to describe spiritual direction. I think it’s like trying to describe the dawn. So here’s a picture:

Imagine you have been on a long journey in the dark and you’ve been rained on and you’re muddied up and you’ve been carrying some baggage the entire time. Then imagine that you come to a resting spot where some welcoming person invites you in to where it’s light and safe and there’s a soft spot to sit on. You can lay your bags down for awhile. You tell the story of your journey. Your journey is honored. The host doesn’t give you advice or give you more stuff to carry. In fact, when you get up, your bags seem a little lighter and you seem to have a little more energy. All the host has done is listen and notice where a Friend you weren’t always aware of seemed to get to a place before you did and somehow provided what was needed for the next step of your journey. Together – from the evidence of your journey - you consider who this Friend is and where this Friend is leading.

Two members of John Wesley UMC have been trained in a three-year program called Charis: Judy Hunter and Barb Dyar. Clergy and laity from our Texas Annual Conference extrapolated the best from their own training in accredited Spiritual Direction Institutions across the country to put together this program. Charis graduated 21 trained spiritual directors in 2008 and will graduate the second class of 17 participating students in August of 2011. A partial list of the comprehensive curriculum included Wesleyan spirituality, the study of Christian history and the figures that influenced it, prayer, inner healing, personality and temperament, spiritual types, dreamwork, stages of faith, worship, lectio divina, and silence.

Anyone wanting to have a companion on their spiritual journey as s/he grows in the knowledge and love of God and God’s love for her/him is invited to call the Conference office for a list of recommended trained spiritual directors or to talk with Judy or Barb about sitting in direction.

Judy Hunter is a trained Stephen minister as well as a trained spiritual director. One of her favorite things is to find messages of God's love, hope and transformation within all of life, especially in children's picture storybooks. While helping her son, Nathaniel, find paths through autism towards healing, she has had the opportunity to companion and mentor fellow care-givers and therapists. She can be reached at 281-583-2012 or jahunter@mindspring.com.

Barb Dyar is on the board and faculty of Charis. The program has grown and stretched her and she now enjoys giving presentations using cartoons along with her research. She works for a commercial factor, knits prayer shawls while joining God in loving the recipient, and thinks there’s nothing quite so wonder-full as seeing God at work in God’s precious creation. She can be reached at 281-537-6770 or fearlesspiano@att.net.