Preparation for Spiritual Direction

Preparing for Spiritual Direction

If this is your first time in a spiritual direction session, it may be a cause of some unease. You wonder what there is say, what things to mention or to work on. You may think that nothing of any significance has happened since the last meeting! But after a while you come to realize that this is not really true. The times when we think there is very little happening are often the times when something surprising emerges!

Below is a reflection sheet to assist you in preparing for your spiritual direction session with questions and a suggested procedure provided. Go through the process, and then fill out the Consultation Preparation Sheet, and email it to Dr Conlan (meath@diversejourneys.com … or … meathconlan@bigpond.com)

This is not going to be graded! Answer as many or as few of the questions as you wish. Originally you came to Dr Conlan for spiritual direction because you wanted to be intentional about your spiritual / inner life. Perhaps this sheet can help you be intentional.

Reflection Questions

(Be as specific as possible about your experience; describe it as richly as you can)

1. If you could use only colours, images, one or two words, or music, how might you express what life has been like lately?
   
2. What events, experiences, relationships, etc. have communicated to you a sense of God’s presence? God’s absence? What thoughts or feelings do these evoke for you?
   
3. Describe your manner of prayer lately. What has helped you to stay attentive to the Spirit? Where have you experienced difficulty?
   
4. In what area(s) of life do you sense God calling you to growth or to deeper surrender? How are you attending to this?

Suggested Process

1. Take a moment to offer yourself to God and to name your desire to follow the Spirit in all of life.
   
2. Listen to the questions that seem to be the most poignant.
   
3. Listen also to the questions that cause you to feel resistant or that seem completely irrelevant at the moment. Who knows, if you give it a moment, something very fruitful might emerge.
   
4. Take time to express any thoughts, questions, places of gratitude, arguments, or whatever that arise for you as you go through the questions.
   
5. Take a moment at the end to express your trust that the Spirit is with you and will stay with you always.
   

Spiritual Direction Session Preparation Sheet

Name: (required)

Phone: (required)

E-Mail: (required)

For the following questions, be as specific as possible about your experience:

1. If I were to use colours, images, one or two words, or music, I would express life lately as the following:

2. The following events, experiences, relationships, etc. have communicated to me a sense of God’s presence:

3. The following events, experiences, relationships, etc. have communicated to me a sense of God’s absence:

4. My thoughts and feelings about #2 and #3 above are:

5. I would describe my manner of prayer lately as:

6. The following has helped me to stay attentive to the Spirit?

7. I have experienced difficulty in staying attentive to the Spirit in the following area(s):

8. I sense God inviting me to growth or to deeper surrender in the following areas. I am attending to this by:

Email, when completed to your satisfaction, to Dr Conlan:

meath@diversejourneys.com … or …

meathconlan@bigpond.com