To all the saints of St.
Paul’s,
Grace to you, and peace!
Among the many things that I
would like to tell you about myself is that for several years I have been a
spiritual director. Since completing my training at Kairos: School for Spiritual Formation (which meets outside of
Reading), I have been meeting with individuals in person and through Skype, to
accompany them on their journey with God. I’ve also been blessed to teach
others how to accompany others on their way.
As I explain on my webpage (http://www.steveshussett.com/ , which you are welcome to go visit), I
think of spiritual direction as my walking with someone, perhaps just a step or
two ahead of them. Things happen, for example, a rare bird flies by, and
sometimes the person is led to ask questions about the bird. Other times the
person is so busy, or so used to the bird, that they don’t notice how unusual
this is. Or the world can be so heavy that it can be hard to even lift your
head to see the bird.
As a spiritual director, I am
there to listen to the person’s story, to pay attention for those rare
bird-sightings. I then gently invite my companion to notice what is around
them, and ask the questions that emerge. God is the ultimate director; my
calling is to sit with another so she or he can hear God. Sometimes God speaks
in fire and earthquake, other times in silence and the ordinary.
Apart from wanting you to
know about this important facet of my life, I want you to know about this
because being a spiritual director is a matter of who I am, not just what I do.
That is to say, I am a spiritual director even when I am not directing. I am as
likely to be quiet as to talk, and when I do talk, I am as likely to be asking
questions as answering them.
It is
important that you know this, because as Duke Divinity School professor C.
Kavin Rowe writes in his article, “Leadership and the Discipline of Silence,”
We are not accustomed to thinking of leaders as those who know
how to be silent. We want them to put out a statement, give a response, open
the conversation, interpret the recent news and so forth. And this, of course,
is perfectly reasonable. In some ways, it is the gift and responsibility of
leaders to do these things.
But then after
speaking of all of the words we have today, with constant commentary, TV, and
social media, Rowe writes, “Silence is the name for the time it takes to see the path of
wisdom.” As a spiritual director, I believe that that wisdom comes in listening
for God’s wisdom together. It is not just about me, it is about we.
It is about God speaking with us.
May God bless us as we seek to be attentive to that rarest of
birds at work in the world and in us:
Come, Holy Spirit, Heavenly Dove!
God is all in all,
Pastor Steve
Shussett
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