I am a spiritual director. My focus is right now, today. What is God doing in your life, in your relationships, in your circumstances and situations today, right now? Spiritual Directors are not psychics, palm readers or fortune tellers. They do not focus on what tomorrow may or may not bring. They focus on where are you at this minute. What is God doing in your life? Are you listening?
Spiritual Directors come in all shapes, sizes, ages, colors, male or female, and hopefully, most recognize their own brokenness. Recognition is the beginning of the healing process. It's important to recognize your own stuff and work hard to keep it out of the way when coming along side another.
SD's are not guides or miners seeking to prospect the inner depths of another. I stir up a lot of dust as I struggle through my own desert. I try to walk upright, but I know I'm often carried and other times, unfortunately, I know I slither like a snake. Humility should be easy for all of us, if we take a good hard look at what we've done, what we've said, who we've hurt and who we are ... without Christ.
Christ is my foundation, the source I seek and the future I yearn for. I daily Google for information, but Scripture helps me see not only who I am, but it often keeps me from bumping into furniture or falling down a stairs. Many will not leave home without their cell. I try to always be conscious of Scripture. It isn't my God, but it certainly points toward the One I seek.
I bring another heart, another pair of ears, another perspective for my directee. Together we endeavor to listen and process what God may be saying. For most, if not all of us, there is a powerful message in the beginning of the book of Joshua. Moses is gone and Joshua has been called to lead the people. Do you think what God said to Joshua God says to you and me? Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
We live in an anxious world, even without the never ending media bombardment of fear. Jesus did not say we might have trouble. He said we would have trouble. He told us to pick up our cross, not our credit card, and follow him. I've never read anything about Jesus checking into the Hilton.
Even without tragedy, sorrow and pain, most of us face a daily deluge of situations, circumstances or people who can make us anxious. Will our credit be approved, will our son or daughter have to go to war, will she go out with me, will we make it through Escrow, will I get that job? What did God say to Joshua?
We need to remember, we are all going to die. Dying to this way or phase of life, passing from summer into fall, or passing altogether ... is just a part of life. In that great old movie, The Lion in Winter, King Henry has locked his sons in prison for their efforts to overthrow him. They are expecting to die. Richard, who will later become Richard the Lionhearted says, "When all you have left is dying, it's important how you die."
It is curious as you grow older how your perspective of life deepens. When all you have left is dying, it's important how you live. Who has not heard someone say, if only I had known what I know today? In a parable Jesus said even if someone came back from the dead we would not listen. (Luke 16:31)
We've all heard the phrase, "It is what it is" and various more colorful renditions of the same concept. Even so, we need the constant reminder that God loves us and God is with us, so no matter what the cross may be, including death itself, "Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
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