Spiritual Direction Online
What is Spiritual Direction?
We all have urgent questions in life:
What is truth? How may I find joy and happiness? What is the right way of living? What am I to do with my life? What gifts do I have to share? What do I do with my loneliness? Why am I so needy for affection, approval, or power? How can I overcome my fears, my shame, my addictions, and my sense of inadequacy or of failure?
In the search for answers to such questions many seek a trusted individual to guide them on their way – a friend, or companion – who is called a Spiritual Director.
Spiritual Direction is an art: offering to another encouragement to open to God’s presence, and to discern the Spirit’s action in every aspect of life. This encouragement comes from a “spiritual director,” a person who has long and deep experience in living a spiritual life. A Spiritual Director is not a psychological counsellor or analyst. Rather he or she is a ‘soul friend’ whom we trust to offer wisdom and guidance.
Will a spiritual director take control of my life?
Not at all. Spiritual Direction is not a means of control or proselytization, or of telling another person what to do or how to be spiritual. Your journey of faith is uniquely your own. It is the responsibility of the director to discern, together with you, the movement of God’s Spirit in your life, and to assist you in following that movement.
What typically happens in a direction session?
Normally, each telephonic session is a 45-minute call. In preparation for the call, you will also be asked to take time reflecting on your experience. Once completed, write an email of your observations (see the sub-link: ‘Preparing for Spiritual Direction’). The phone call may begin with a time of quiet centering, followed by a review of the preparation sheet. After this you share whatever seems important. Then there is interaction between you and the director as you seek together to discern the Spirit’s intimations and invitations in what you’ve been experiencing. The session typically ends with a brief time of closure.
How often would I “meet” with my director?
It depends on what you sense you need. Once a month is a common pattern, although more often, especially at the beginning, may be helpful. Some people contact their directors only when they are ready. The frequency will be determined by your needs at the time.
Isn’t someone local better?
Absolutely. If you can find someone near you who is experienced in spiritual direction, that would be the best.
How do I get started?
1. Review the short bio-sketch of Dr Meath Conlan (in the “About” Page of the website) to make sure he seems most suitable to your situation.
2. Complete and email the Information Form – once you’re satisfied that Dr Conlan is suitable for your needs.
3. Dr Conlan will email you an acknowledgement of the form and arrange to have a brief telephone call with you to get better acquainted. There are some questions in the Initial Inquiry Questions link in this website that you could use.
4. Together, you will make a mutually convenient time for a longer consultation.
What does it cost and how do I pay?
The cost is $50.00 per session payable to the Dr Meath Conlan. At this time I can only accept Australian and New Zealand cheques and money orders. Do you live outside Australia? I accept International Bank Cheques, or (by private arrangement) Electronic Bank Transfers. It may suit people from outside Australia or New Zealand to send one payment for 3-4 consultancies.
Do you accept requests from around the world?
Yes, through Skype it is possible and Skype calls also allows for a video link-up. If you don’t have Skype, Dr Conlan will arrange an ordinary phone link. Alternatively, for overseas consultancies, Dr Conlan is happy to call you on your phone number at a mutually convenient time.
Is this spiritual direction available only through e-mail?
My spiritual direction is by: (1) personal consultation, (2) by telephone, and, where required, (3) through e-mail.
If I have more questions, who do I contact?
Feel free to contact Dr Meath Conlan:
meath@diversejourneys.com
phone: +61 8 9221 6338
mobile: +61 408 080 560
Skype: Meath.Conlan
fax: +61 8 6380 2767
Spiritual Guidance On-line: Ancient Paths – New Technology.
Want to nourish your hunger for God?
Want to discover God in all the complexity of your life?
Want someone you can turn to for wisdom and perspective?
In all cultures, spiritually hungry individuals have been finding the answer to these longings in the tradition of “spiritual direction,” though it will have had different names for the same process. This is an ancient resource that is available on-line.
Using this web site, you’ll be able to contact Dr Meath Conlan – someone with experience in offering spiritual guidance and assisting individuals in spiritual development. Via the phone or email, you’ll build a relationship with him as he walks with you on your life’s inner journey.
The links on this “About Page” will help you understand the possibilities and the process, and will provide instructions on how to go further, if you desire.
From ‘Spiritual Direction’ – a book by Henri Nouwen:
I want to beg you as much as I can . . . to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart, and to try to love the questions themselves . . . Do not now seek answers that cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then, gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. . . . Take whatever comes, with great trust, and if only it comes out of your will, out of some need of your innermost being, take it upon yourself and hate nothing. - Rainer Marie Rilke, ‘Letters to A Young Poet,’ pp. 34, 35, in: Nouwen, H. ‘Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for The Long Walk of Faith,’ 2006. p. 12. HarperOne, NY.
The greatest call of a spiritual director is to open the door to the opportunities for spiritual growth and sometimes to provide a glimpse of the great mysterious light behind the curtain of life and of the Lord who is the source of all knowing and the giver of life. To receive spiritual direction is to recognise that God does not solve all our problems or answer all our questions, but leads us closer to the mystery of our existence where all questions arise. - Henri Nouwen, ‘Spiritual Direction: Wisdom for The Long Walk of Faith,’ 2006. p. 13. HarperOne, NY.