Matthew R Green
Spiritual Direction
Someone with you along the journey
We don’t go it alone
You can see it in scripture, in the structure of our brains, even in the advertising we’re bombarded with: we’re meant to be with other people. We’re designed to walk our journeys together and sometimes to have someone that’s present, listening to us and – ideally – listening to God to see where the Spirit is at work.
That’s what spiritual direction is for. It’s a space where someone is present for you, helping to discern what God is doing and loving you in the middle of wherever you’re at. If you’d like someone to make space for you and for God, I’d love to talk.
Life Together
Spiritual direction is a ministry rooted in thousands of years of Christian practice. Many sought out the desert mothers and fathers, those who went out into the wilderness to pray and grow, for their wisdom and experience. Books were being written on how to walk with others as spiritual companions and guides as early as the fifth century. And Jesus acted as a spiritual director to the woman at the well, to Nicodemus, and to the travelers on the road to Emmaus. All these are spaces where one comes alongside another not merely to teach but to listen and be with.
Over the years, different schools and styles of spiritual direction have arisen, and the practice has become more formalized for many, but the intention and hope is generally the same: to unspool our stories with someone who will listen and to seek for where God is, what the Spirit is doing, and how we are invited to receive and respond to Jesus in all that we find. For some, the space becomes prayerful and quiet as two souls listen together. For others, it can be a mining of the scriptures to make sense of not just principles but what that means in this moment. For others, it is simply a place of being heard and loved. No matter how it flows, the core always remains: what is God about for you and with you and in you?
Unlike many therapeutic modalities, spiritual direction is not typically aimed at solving problems or finding relief, though those may happen along the way. Instead, the goal is to seek where the Spirit is in the midst of whatever is happening, whether problems or joys. It is an space for the deepening of relationship, not with the director or even with oneself – as much as those may develop – but with God.
“It is easier to find guides, someone to tell you what to do, than someone to be with you in a discerning, prayerful companionship as you work it out yourself. This is what spiritual direction is.”
Eugene H. Peterson
For Companionship
We all need people whom we can come back to, who are for us and will be with us for all of life’s ups and downs. Sometimes, it’s good to know there’s a dedicated space where there’s a person who can be that for us – a companion on the journey.
For Care
Soul wounds and spiritual struggles are real. We can sometimes find ourselves in dark places where God seems distant or life is difficult. Spiritual direction can make space for us to enter deeply into those places and see where God may be doing even in the struggles.
For Discernment
When a fork in the road shows up, when something in us is stirring and we’re not sure how to respond, spiritual direction is a place to help listen, discern, and find the way forward. Whether it’s questions of calling, relationships, or meaning, there is another willing to walk alongside and help find a path.