Spiritual Direction in Daily Life
“Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery it is. In the boredom and pain of it, no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it, because in the last analysis all moments are key moments,
and life itself is grace.”
- Frederick Buechner, Now and Then: A Memoir of Vocation
About
What is Emerging Words?
This is a site devoted to the idea that amidst whatever may be happening in our lives, and especially in times of transition and change… certain questions, journaling prompts, even single words or phrases… They all can be guideposts, teachers, way-showers.
Emerging Words is a place to collect and share “words of direction”… of solace, of insight, of confirmation. In a time when much overwhelms, and we all have heaps to read and take in (or not), I am attracted to the simple, reverberatory quality of certain words that can appear, almost like signals on a dark sea, and unexpectedly shine a light.
And sometimes the words are linked to key concepts I have worked with in retreats and with clients for many years: Managing change, vocational shifts and surprises, navigating wilderness times.
This website will also offer Resources to accompany these times… more extended downloads with quotes and writing prompts that I hope can be of particular and timely help along the way.
Why the subtitle “Spiritual Direction in Daily Life”?
Spiritual direction, I believe, is something we can all receive. Yes, it can mean a formal relationship with a person who is trained and gifted in listening for and reflecting back the movements of the spirit in your life. That is a wonderful thing, and a reference in the Resources page can connect you with people who do this.
But I also believe that “spiritual direction” comes to us all the time, in ways large and small. The sheer variety of endings and beginnings, and the in-between times in our lives… every arena asks us to listen to it deeply.
Recently often a single word comes to me… literally “emerges” from the overwhelm, fear or busyness… and that word has a quality that is both immediate and reverberatory. Like it has more to say about some of the larger currents running underneath any given situation. Sometimes that word… heard or uttered or read… grabs me and opens up a clue to the next chapter of my life, or gives comfort and direction in a current one.
Those words, and the mini essays they are provoking in me these days, will be the basis for this website. I share them in the hopes they may speak to others, too… and I hope to collect some of your “emerging words” as this community grows and shares.
Who is it for?
Everyone is welcome. This is a place where I will share resources for the journey, whether personal or vocational. The topic of change is the undercurrent, closely linked with the question: how do I sense my current “call” in a situation?
At the heart of this website is the belief that we are all “words of God.” Unique utterances… people with gifts, joys, “calls” that indeed shift over time, and not always in welcome ways. So some of the work of Emerging Words is to provide resources that can accompany these shifts.
I loved working with clients amidst vocational and life transitions for many years as a spiritual director, career counselor and retreat leader. Many times I would “reach for” in my mind… a book, a quote, a glimpse of something related to the situation at hand. It would literally “emerge” from the person in front of me, his or her situation, or the topic I was presenting. Some alchemy of place, person and questions and perhaps direction was occurring.
I want this site to traffic in the mystery of words that find us, words that surprise, help, heal, and reveal. And give us ways to listen for them.
This is a place to continue these eternal explorations, on our own and in community. In time, I hope to have periodic Zoom gatherings, and other ways we can hear from each other about what, in the words of Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor, “is saving your life these days.”
How to Use Emerging Words?
The Emerging Words blog will explore words that have the potential to guide, provoke, invite and reveal. My hope is that these words or phrases, and the short essays attached, lead you into your own applications and explorations. Your own ways of “listening to your life.”
Perhaps a word from a blog will be oddly pertinent. All of them will be words that are shining a light on something for me at this time. Yes, it’s a little weird to hope that they might also speak to you, but so often the personal comes trailing collective threads.
Second, like the ancient spiritual practice of the “Examen,” a thoughtful look at your day at the end of that day, let this site be an invitation to notice the “words” that are coming to you, and perhaps becoming touchstones in some way.
Listening for your own words from a day, a week… spoken or unspoken… from a conversation or a reading… all can be a form of prayer.
Third, step into the “Resources” section of this site and simply explore.
“Ever Emerging” is a mirror of sorts, and the real “resource” is you: Our lives are always in flux, and this section can serve as a type of “scan” that you can use in times of change or transition. It draws on work done for many years in retreats, particularly with the wonderful Marble Collegiate Church in New York City.
“Resources” is also a place where questions, journaling exercises, audio clips and more around certain “evergreen” topics like transitions, finding balance, and navigating change can help guide and frame the journey, and will be added to over time.
It also includes a curated list of some wonderful websites, podcasts and publications that stand out in terms of their ability to guide without simplifying, and the wit and wisdom of the creators.
Main Header Photo Taken at Mercy by the Sea Center