Today we had the third meeting of the people taking part in group spiritual direction. There are five people in this group, plus me and I'm there as the facilitator. Next Tuesday our second group of five will begin to meet. Spiritual direction can be done as a one-one-one experience or as a group experience. In the group setting, everyone listens prayerfully to what one of the group decides to share about his or her life and understanding of God's action in his or her life. There is a lot of silence as we hold what is shared reverently. When a person feels call to ask a question in order to help the person move more deeply into relationship with God, she or he does so. Everyone in the group takes turns sharing.
There are many different reasons that people decide to attend a church. And churches have many functions in the lives of individuals and in the life of the wider community. For me, the most important thing that churches do, and the primary reason that we exist, is to help every person, and our community as a whole, grow closer to God. As individuals and communities of faith grow in the knowledge and love of God, the individuals benefit, the church matures, and the wider community is blessed. This can happen in many ways, and at different times in a person's life it can happen in different ways --it can happen through fellowship, outreach (helping others), worshipping, Bible study, singing in a choir - the list goes on and on. Sharing our spiritual journeys as we do in group spiritual direction is one way that God works through us to help each other notice the movements of God in our lives.
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