Singing Along the Journey

I am convinced that God often speaks to me through my obsessions.  No, not through an obsession like my need to have a root beer float every day in the summer.  I am talking about my obsessions to understand particular things -- like my current obsession with the word hermeneutics  (which, by the way, auto-correct wants to turn into "therapeutics", a linkage I find totally amazing). This is normally the place where I would put a link to some wonderful article explaining the idea of hermeneutics, but I decided instead to give you my own definition, mostly because of the fact that when I searched the term I found some pretty…

Words often fail me when I am asked to explain just what I mean by a ministry of spiritual companionship (or, as it is traditionally called, spiritual direction).  We no longer live in a faith-dominated societal context, although, for some of us, faith still defines our particular echo chamber existence.  But for many people I encounter who might, in the course of small talk, stumble into the discussion of my life and how I pass my days, words like spiritual direction, spiritual companionship, even spiritual friendship might seem strange and off-putting. If we get past the initial shock, and they dare to ask -- well, what do you mean by…

Wait...don't run away.  I know, some people have trouble with this strong word like pathology.  But it really isn't my language -- and it took language this strong to get my attention so that I could understand.  Maybe it will help you, too. The image really belongs to the great teacher and writer, Parker J. Palmer.  He uses it in his book, Let Your Life Speak, although he never really offers us a definition for it.  Instead, the idea comes up in his discussion of his own search for his proper vocation: Vocation, the way I was seeking it, becomes an act of will, a grim determination that one's life will…