Session 7 - Spiritual Direction with Friends and Family

1) Conversion-->the WTS theological theme for Academic Year 2007-08 is described as one the three stages of spiritual formation when the disciple is maturing (p. 20). How does conversion relate, correspond, and differ from spiritual formation?

I believe that conversion relates and corresponds to spiritual formation in that during the process of conversion, one turns away from a worldly life and sin towards God, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit and a life fulfilling one’s journey to live as Christ lived amongst others. Spiritual formation is like conversion in that in spiritual formation you are turning away from a life without consciously hearing and living in the presence of God towards a life of contemplative prayer, spiritual disciplines, communally listening for the direction and instruction of the Holy Spirit, and a life filled with daily contemplation and conscious revelation of the Holy Spirit’s direction and instruction in every aspect of life in a wholistic manner.

I believe that Conversion and Spiritual Formation also have some differences that occur in relation to the experience and living out the Christian life. A question that sometimes occurs with conversion is whether or not it is a one-time event or a series of events? In either case, conversion seems to be something that can happen alone through the in-filling of the Holy Spirit (i.e. Paul’s conversion on the Damascus Road) and does not have to happen within community. Spiritual Formation on the other hand is something that must happen within community in either a one-on-one relationship or group setting with the Holy Spirit as the Ultimate Director, a Spiritual Director and a willing and voluntary Spiritual Directee or Friend. Conversion also seems to differ from Spiritual Formation in the sense that conversion is usually turning away from something and towards something else, and Spiritual Formation to me does not necessary entail turning away from something but living in such a way that one is seeking, praying, listening and acting up the direction that is provided by the Holy Spirit in a daily existence. I really liked Benner’s quote on Pgs. 55-56 where he states “Spiritual guidance or direction is human/divine assistance for translating discipleship into a life journey of transformation. Called to be a disciple, sent to be an apostle: this is the fundamental vocation of all baptized Christians. This process of change has always benefitted from the guidance of others.” One can convert without out others but one cannot be spiritually formed and transformed on a life long journey without others.

2) Contrast the roles of the spiritual father (Orthodox) and spiritual director (Roman Catholic) in the life of the church.

In Benner, the role of the Spiritual Father in the Orthodox tradition seemed to be very authoritative and provided instruction and direction based upon a life of listening and being attentive to the Holy Spirit and providing instruction and direction to others who are seeking to be spiritually formed. The Spiritual Father had to be one who was in a position of authority (i.e. pastor) and had to live out spiritual formation in order to provide direction and instruction to others. This could be exemplified by the Spiritual Father telling the person what they must do based upon direction by the Holy Spirit. The Spiritual Father operated more as a master and the spiritual directee acted as the disciple receiving instruction from the Spiritual Father. The Spiritual Father would also serve as the doctor, counselor, intercessor, mediator and sponsor for the person and must experienced spiritual formation/direction prior to spiritually directing others.

The role of the Spiritual Director in the Roman Catholic tradition seems to be one who does not have to be a spiritual authority (i.e. pastor) but can be a lay person who has gone through and been instructed in spiritual formation so that they can help and lead others. The Spiritual Director is primarily responsible for walking along side the person and provides clarification and discernment to clarify what God wants in the person’s life and discern between the evil and the good spirits affecting the person’s life. The Spiritual Director acts like a player-coach with the person with the Holy Spirit as the General Manager directing everything, but the Spiritual Director as the person who hears both the General Manager and the player, and can communicate with the player what the General Manager is telling the player he wants him or her to do. The Spiritual Director is still a player in that he participates in the process and must live a life as a model for the player, so the player must also know that the Spiritual Director is going through or has gone through the same process and is living effectively under the direction of the General Manager (Holy Spirit). The main outcome is that the team goes in the direction that the General Manager directs, with instructions that both the Spiritual Director (Player-Coach) and Directee (Player) both hear and understand through communication and prayer.

Calhoun, Part 4, Memorization
Hiding God's Word in our hearts will provide many benefits and blessings. Renew your mind by cleansing and transforming the Limbic System in our brains-->memorize and meditate on a brief passage of Scripture for the next 41 days. Record your experience after one week of memorization. Recall your memorized passage in times of prayer, frustration, relaxation, and worship.

There have been many times that I have memorized Scripture and when I have been in a situation where I needed to rely on God’s Word or needed to have the Holy Spirit provide me with support and greater understanding of what I was going through that the Scripture that I memorized came back to my remembrance and changed my spirit or provided me with greater understanding of what I was going through. The foundational Scripture for my Disciples Class is 1 John 2:6 – Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. There have been times where I have gone through persecution, abandonment, betrayal, solitude and suffering and this Scripture immediately comes to my spirit and helps me to understand that since I am a disciple of Christ then living in this world as a disciple will require me to go through things and situations that Jesus went through so that I can walk as he walked. The Retreat provided me with an opportunity to feel what the disciples must have felt when they were gathered around Christ at a campfire or open setting where he is talking with them and they are hearing directly from God. What an awesome feeling they must have had and what an awesome experience I was blessed to share to give me a glimpse of what Christian Spiritual Formation is all about.

I asked my daughters (Diamond and Destinee) and my wife (Jamile) to go on this 41 day experience with me in memorizing Psalm 23. I think that doing this within my household will help us collectively and individually to focus on God and place this well known Scripture in our hearts. During this time I plan on discussing the verses with them and open ourselves up to what the Holy Spirit will provide for our family through this awesome Scripture.