What happens in that room?

"Only God knows!" exclaims Sister Libby Hoye, looking back on decades of experience as well as reverence for the process. For spiritual direction involves grappling with Divine Mystery, walking on holy ground.

She illustrates the point with a story of a sister who "came in to me in tears, saying, 'I don't know if I believe in God.'" The sister had just taken a job as a parish religious education director.

Moment of prayer

"So we sat there and prayed a while. Then I did what God inspired me to do at the moment," she recalls, and urged her troubled "directee" to read the Psalms, perhaps praying these ancient prayers on the banks of a nearby pond.

"Although she told me that the psalms 'did nothing' for her," Sister Libby recalls, the directee agreed to try it. Some days later, Sister Libby answered a knock on her office door to find the sister/educator standing before her, radiating peace.

"I'm all right now," she said. What brought about the change, Sister Libby asked? "I watched the grass grow," the sister replied, adding: "No one but God can do anything to make pond grass grow. It survives with and because of God."

"Was it something I said or didn't say?" Sister Libby asks in retrospect, adding with a smile: "Personally, I would say the pond grass taught her. You just never know."

Young adults receptive

She cites a young man who asked for spiritual guidance during her own internship as a spiritual director. He had come for a retreat, then asked Sister Eleanor for some guidance, saying, "there is something going on inside me."

The 22-year-old waiter was also a musician who composed and wrote lyrics for "the most profound music." Like many young people today, Sister Eleanor believes, he was seeking deeper meaning in his life.

Prayer and time

* Prayer with the spiritual guide as the session begins, whenever appropriate, and as the session ends;

* Time to explore personal experience of God -- in terms of prayer, of personal faith, the events of daily living, and in the overall picture of one's life history. "Everyone has experiences of God all the time," Sister Eleanor believes. "It is just that we are very often hesitant to put it in words."

* Suggestions for spiritual reading or keeping a journal or diary about prayer or personal spiritual life;

* Ideas on how to organize time and schedules, the better to create time for God in one's life.

* Strict confidentiality so that whatever is discussed is a matter for three only: the directee, the director and the Lord.

Process

As for how long the entire process may last, some people may seek short-term guidance; others may seek direction over several months, checking back occasionally as needs become apparent.

Spiritual growth is a life-long process, directors agree, with guidance along the way proving helpful at various stages of life.

Director's role

She likes to compare spiritual direction with sitting down at the kitchen table with the Holy Trinity. Spiritual direction helps people to understand that God is always close.

"God, the Trinity, is trying to draw us into love all the time, calling us to sit down at the table," she says. "The Holy Spirit is always drawing us into new life and greater intimacy, and the Trinity is right in here -- in our hearts. We just have to pay attention."

(11-14-96) [[In-content Ad]]