At Kardia Collective our mission is to support individuals to grow in courage, hope, and freedom.
What is Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual Direction is a process where two (or more) people meet together for the purpose of experiencing the presence of God. One of the persons is trained/gifted in guiding the other in deepening their awareness of God’s presence for comfort, intimacy, conviction, or whatever God chooses to impart.
Who comes to Spiritual Direction?
When hearing invitational Scriptures such as: “That I may know Him,…” or “You have said, ‘Seek my face.’ or “My heart says to you, ‘Your face, Lord, I do seek,’ ” or “My sheep hear My voice;”… do you experience a yearning for something deeper in your life? Do you have a longing for God that feels unquenchable? Do you feel you must pursue your quest for God?
At the same time, do you sometimes feel you fail in the searching and the questing? Do you struggle with discouragement, maybe even humiliation, in your search? Though these hard seasons may have lasted months or even years, do you keep hearing a “call” to intimacy with the triune God? If so, maybe Spiritual Direction could help.
Why come to Spiritual Direction?
Spiritual Direction is not for therapy, coaching, nor pastoral guidance. So why come? Sometimes, people come because they have experienced a change of life and feel God is trying to capture their attention. It might have been a death of a loved one or loss in a physical, emotional, or social capacity. Sometimes they come because they feel lost and disconnected from God. They are seeking to reconnect with their Creator. They might be seeking meaning or purpose.
What are the Christian themes that underlie Spiritual direction?
Every person born on this planet has, at their very core, a deep desire for a satisfying love relationship. Unfortunately many, if not most, people deny this need in favor of the superficial satisfaction of sensual pleasures (e.g. entertainment, power, pleasures of all sorts, etc.). There are few who realize that the only fulfillment of that desire is found in union with the Creator and Sustainer of the Universe, Jesus Christ. But like God in the garden of Eden, this same Creator is still seeking, “Where are you?”
Like Jesus, the God who became man to make it possible for man to come to God, the Spiritual Director is just a human helping another human come to God. As Guenther points out, we are amateurs. We are hungry ‘beggars showing other beggars’ where we found food. Granted our lives are not redemptive, as was Jesus’. But we can participate in the work and in the fellowship of His sufferings, helping others on their path.
How does Spiritual Direction work?
Unlike most therapy contexts, Spiritual Direction sessions are held only once per month. They can be either in person or via telehealth. In each session, the director makes it clear that there is always a third person present, God, in the person of the Holy Spirit, is the true director of the time together.
The session lasts an hour and there is a fee. You can speak to your Spiritual Director about that fee.