Page 2 of Doughtery's book spoke to me, "The critical element is spiritual direction is the intention to rely on god, to seek God actively and wiat for God's leading." So I do agree that it is not about a following a set of rules. Finding truth and God's leading in one's life. This can be done in a one-on-one relationship or in a group. We as part of the body of Christ as admonished to, by Paul, "Love one onther'. In so loving our borthers and sisters, we would want to help them find God's truth, not our own philosophies and thought. In prayer and praying for them.
As in Jesus' time, when he asked the blind man. "What do you want?" Jesus is still asking each one of us what is it that we seek. In community, maybe we can help each other seek God.
K- Group format
The longer I read Doughtery's book, the more discouraged I became. I wanted to use the already established Wed. night group, a group of 6-8 people who meet rather regularly and who have commited to studying the Psalms to be my K- group. I had already started such a meeting without the book "Praying the Psalms, as it had not yet come. We started sharing about what is happening in our lives. Each shared, while the others listened, we went around the table until all had shared, then we prayed together. No there was not an interview with the members as to who wanted to join a special K-group. I am now wandering if this k-group would be good to do at a silent retreat at the end of this study, or if this study could still become my K-group, since the members all seem to be seeking after God. Since the Psalms deal so much with emotions, we will be silent at times and would be supportive to listen to the person share. This already happened this week and I am looking forward to reading a psalm, talking about feelings and spending time with this group in prayer. The rule of confidentiality is one I practice everyday as a psychologist. Two of the people in attendence have been through the 12 steps program and often bring insights from that experience. The questions on page 43, Who is God for me? What has been going on between God and me? How is it that God sees to be relating to me? Such questions can be incorportated as a time of reflection before or after we study a feeling or some of the Psalms. Ath our next session, i will see if this can be a type of K-group or weather I need to plan another one. I welcome your reflections on this.
If I go ahead with wed night group, we meet from 7:00-8:30. we enter into a time of sharing, each talking (1/2 hour) in total,
then a time or prayer, silence or out loud and one person to end that time with a closing prayer,
There is a time here for teaching as it was designed as a Bible Study of the Psalms
A time of discussion and more sharing
a closing time of prayer
The goal is to learn about ourselves, to be real before God in all of our feeling and in prayer to listen to God's leading in our lives.
2) How does your faith and receptivity to the Holy Spirit impact your perspective of spiritual direction? I do believe that the Holy Spirit is active and present in my life. Often a questions that the youth of our church as is "How do I know God's Will? " God speaks throught scripture, through the life of Jesus Christ, through prayer and contemplation, through the community of believers. Yes God speaks in and through us by the power of the Holy Spirit. This for me happens in times of quiet contemplation and prayer, as well as while worshiping on a Sunday Morning, or through the scripture, a song, a courus, or a verse I'v memorized. I at times get revelation through writing in my journal. But at times I also need to speak with believers, brothers and sisters in Christ . Knowing myself and listening to the small still voice is very important. At time, when God seems to be silent on some issures, I know that by faith and trust , I just need to do 'the next thing' take that step of faith and just do it!
Dought says " ...Eventually it must become a way of life, a habit wherein we view and har all of life through the eyes and ears of faith. We grow in senstivity to God's presence with us in all of life" (pg 80).
Shoes: Before putting on my socks and shoes think about God. Thank you Ben and Ruby for sharing how you have practiced this. A daily habit that I practice before my head is off the bed, is to say to myself: "This is the day that the Lord has made, Thank you God for giving me this day...We, (I will choose to ) rejoice and be glad in it, this will be my attitude today, to rejoice, to be glad that God is with me and will go with me today what ever comes my way.
For Christmas, I wanted one of those Chime clocks, that chime on the hour. I counted with the rings the numbers of bells that told me what time it was. As a disciple of trying to practice the presence of God, I decided to Thank God for his presence when the clock range, so that at least when I am home nad hear the clock, I become aware that "this is my father's worlds" and that God is near, and here.
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8 comments:
Praying the psalms has 9 sessions, with prayers of
dependence, Longing for God, Trust, Distress, Gratitude, Grief, When God is Silent, Hope and Joy. Each has a Psalm and we each will be sharing our prayers and feeling from our lives.
Lydia,
I think that your Prayer group could be an effective K-Group based upon the individuals that are already committed to prayer and discussing what God is doing in their lives. The topics from Psalms seem to be great starters for discussion, contemplation and prayer regarding very important aspects of our Christian walk with Christ. One suggestion that I would make is to evaluate the importance of this group as it is and whether or not the K-Group can be separate and operate at maybe a deeper level based upon the only purpose being Spiritual Direction and to go in the manner or direction in which the Holy Spirit is leading. I have a similar situation at my Church as I teach a Discipleship Class on Mondays from 7:00 - 8:30 p.m. with a devoted 20 - 25 who come on a regular basis. I think that this number would be too large for a Spiritual Direction Group but I also think that those who are interested in a deeper and smaller Spiritual Direction Group should be given the opportunity to participate in both the Discipleship Class and the Spiritual Direction Meetings if they so choose.
I also greatly appreciated your shoeless devotion and listening to the clock and at every ring bringing yourself back into God's presence and recognizing his presence in that manner. Its amazing how opening yourself up to God in unique ways on a daily basis allows him to speak to you in ways that you not have ever imagined, but that he already knew that it was possible we just needed to discover him seeking us in that manner.
Lydia,
I like the idea about the chimes.I am one of those who would appreciate a reminder of God's presence. I don't always invite him into my day first thing in the morning. The more I study about the presence of God, the more I desire him. Sometimes we must resort to creativity to make it happen.
Lydia,
About your k-group, I can feel your discomfort in this. First, stop and say a prayer for direction. This k-group is a first for me but I have done many workshops on various topics that would qualify under the spiritual direction's umbrella. I will modify some of these topics coupled with topics of interest expressed by the group and use them. I am a woman of simplicity who understands complexity. I think God wants us to disciple the people, not to be caught up on formality. I am suggesting that you take a closer look at what you have and compare that to the guidelines, you may find that you aren't that far off. Don't forget to talk with Dr, Nissley.
Rudy: Thanks for the
encouragement. It just so happened that I had a class with Dr. John Nisley and we did discuss a little about this k-group. So after prayer and thinking through the process, I proceeded tonight, Wed to ask the group if they would be committed to comming and committed to the goal of seeking God. Yes they all said. we talked about silence, prayer and confidentiality. We started with prayer, reading a psalm a bit of observation, interpretation and application and then sharing and prayer. Those who were comfortable shared from their heart, were they saw God working in their lives and how they were dependent on God. The question on this Psalm 86 happened to be "In what areas of your life do you need to acknowledge your dependence on God. All in the group shared, while the rest listened in silence to the one sharing. One in particular shared a need, and we could pray with and for her. The prayer time started with much silence, (this group is now comfortable with each other and with silence)then people prayed. I closed the prayer time and then we shared again. Thank you all for your encouragement and thoughts on this process. Next session, is a Psalm that help us focus a prayer of longing for God Psalm 63.
Lydia,
I,too, like the idea about the chimes. This will work well for me. I work in a control room that has many chimes and alarms going off all the time. I never thought about praying when I hear the chimes. I will incorporate this into my devotional time. I have a lot of down time at work and could definitely benefit from your good suggestions, thank you.
Thanks for an intriguing post on forming a K-Group. It may be like bees swarming before hiving, then structuring into a community of like-minded insects. The leader-queen diects the hive, so you set the pace and focus. You seem to be leading with sensitivity and insight. Your class peers have provided helpful insight, this blog class is developing community. Mutual care and support for one another on the journey.
Thanks for your diligence and humble sharing, please don't feel that you have to develop a perfectly functioning K-Group by the end of the term. Your grade on this aspect of the course is only to launch it, not perfecting it (Students will grade their K-Group experience). Besides, there is no perfect group, only healthy, caring seekers sharing bread with one another.
Your K-group sound like something that I need to grow spiritually. I am sure that God is leading you on your spiritual journey and He will continue to give you direction in his time (Kairos)
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