Home > Work > Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls: A Guide to Christian Approaches and Practices
1 " First, he claims many people feel a need for personal growth in aChristian way of life. "
― Gary W. Moon , Spiritual Direction and the Care of Souls: A Guide to Christian Approaches and Practices
2 " We define Christian spiritual direction, then, as help given by one Christian to another which enables that person to pay attention to God's personal "
3 " David G. Benner has defined spiritual direction as a "prayer process in which a person seeking help in cultivating a deeper personal relationship with God meets another for prayer and conversation that is focused on increasing awareness of God in the midst of life experiences and facilitating surrender to God's will" (2002:94). "
4 " allowing the Word and Spirit of Christ to enter into one's depths and begin to transform each component of the human being to Christlikeness-under the direction of a regenerate will and with constant overtures of grace from God (Willard 2002:42). "
5 " I define spiritual direction as the interaction between one person, trained to listen for the movement of God, and another who desires to develop and cultivate an intimate, personal relationship with God. "
6 " One can almost apply Gabriel Marcel's famous insight: life is not a problem to be solved but a mystery to be lived. "
7 " Believing that spirituality is vital for growth and essential for dealing with life's problems, many individuals are pursuing a journey of spiritual growth. "
8 " The constant theme has been the cultivation of communion with God, prayer and the transformation it brings. In the Orthodox tradition, this is true healing for the soul. "
9 " Believing that spirituality is vital for growth and essential for dealing with life's problems, many individuals are pursuing a journey of spiritual growth. Pursuing this journey typically involves a commitment to engage in spiritual practices such as prayer and meditation. As a result of this pursuit, some are finding their lives are more centered and fulfilling, while others find themselves trapped in old feelings, attitudes and habits that appear to undo their progress. Even those who have made progress on the journey often encounter spiritual and psychological roadblocks to growth. "
10 " Faith is, at heart, the central relationship that gives meaning to our life; we are able to interpret our experiences in light of that relationship. Or as Katherine Dyckman and L. Patrick Carroll put it, "To `faith' is to hand over the direction of one's journey to another, to yield up . . . `the illusion of control' to someone who is essentially beyond our control, over whom we have no power" (1981:8 9). "