| |
|
|
|
|
| |
A Glossary of Terms |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Contemplation
Discernment
Piety
Spirituality
Spiritual Formation |
|
Spiritual Guidance
Spiritual Direction
A History of Spiritual Formation in the Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.)  |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
Contemplation
The contemplative life is to "retain with all one's mind
the love of God and neighbor but to rest from exterior motion
and cleave only to the desire of the Maker"
—Gregory the Great
(quoted in Thomas Merton, Contemplative Prayer. NY:
Image, 1971: 51)
Contemplative prayer is "the development of one's relationship
with Christ to the point of communing beyond words, thoughts,
feelings, and the multiplication of particular acts…"
—Thomas Keating,
Open Mind Open Heart: The Contemplative Dimension of the
Gospel. NY: Continuum, 1992: 146).
The contemplative relationship with God is "a way that
tends to wordlessness and the unification of thought, feeling
and desire so that the energies of the whole person are gathered
into focus in an attractive, waiting awareness"
—Wendy Wright "Guidelines
for Discernment of Lay Contemplative Formation Programs."
The Lay Contemplative. Eds. Virginia Manss and Mary Frohlich.
Cincinnati: St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2000: 90.
"It is common to regard contemplation as a rare and exalted
gift, an so no doubt it is in its plenitude. Yet the seeds of
a contemplative attitude exist in all of us. From this hour
and moment I can start to walk through the world, conscious
that it is God's world, that [God] is near me in everything
that I see and touch, in everyone whom I encounter. However
spasmodically and incompletely I do this I have already set
foot upon the contemplative path."
"Contemplation is not a means to an end. It is not even
a goal sought for itself. It is so utterly simple that the very
desire for it becomes an obstacle to achieving it. And when
you achieve it, you haven't really achieved anything. You do
not get some place where you were not. You are getting where
you always really are: in the presence of God. You have achieved
nothing. Yet you have achieved everything. For you have been
transformed in consciousness so that at last you recognize yourself
for who you really are."
—William H. Shannon,
Seeking the Face of God.
NY: Crossroad/Herder & Herder, 1990: 16.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
 |
|
| |
 |
| |
Discernment
"Discernment" has been described as "a way of
making Christian choices, of following the Spirit of God in
the decisions we make."
—David Lonsdale,
Listening to the Music of the Spirit: the Art of Discernment.
Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 1992, p.19.]
In the New Testament, the word for discernment
is diakrisis, which means "differentiating" or "distinguishing."
In discernment, individuals and groups allow the experiences
of a dynamic relationship with the Living God to give shape
to their decisions, seeking to judge between choices that are
obedient to God's will and those that are contrary to God's
desires. It is often associated with the call of God to a particular
person or group.
Discernment is an ongoing process rather than an isolated event,
and is grounded in a life of prayer. It makes use of rational
processes, intuition, imagination, and emotion, and always includes
the testing of a discerned decision.
From the Latin discernere meaning "to sift apart,"
as in the practice of sifting wheat to remove the chaff. As
a spiritual practice discernment refers to the process of:
- Prayerfully seeking to notice with clarity and without bias.
Taking "a long,loving look at the real."
- Noticing the many values and possibilities that are present.
Asking God to show us Spirit's presence and values in them.
Considering them through the light of Scripture and our faith
community's wisdom.
- Imagining the various responses and choices we might make.
Noticing the likely outcomes each presents.
- Prayerfully taking time with each outcome and asking God
to help us see the effects our choice creates.
- Identifying our choice or response and then praying with
it for a period of time (if needed days or weeks) and noticing
whether it has "Spirit-life" to it or feels and
thinks "deadening."
- If it prays, feels and thinks right, choosing to prayerfully
follow that course of action.
—Steven Wirth, "Communal Discernment:
Choosing with God in Community."
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Piety
"Within the Reformed tradition, the word that has been
used most commonly to mean spirituality is 'piety.' Most contemporary
Protestants react negatively to the word 'piety' or to anything
that remotely reminds them of that word. Piety sounds narrowly
judgmental and self-righteous. If often has the overtones of
a form of religion that is afraid of finding any joy in the
created order, opting instead for a stern and grim, dutiful
determination to keep rigid rules. But piety is nothing more
that the pattern by which we shape our lives before God in grateful
obedience to what God has done for us. Calvin's definition of
piety is helpful in understanding the scope: 'I call 'piety'
that reverence joined with love of God which the knowledge of
[God's] benefits induces."
—Howard L. Rice.
Reformed Spirituality.
Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991: 46.
"The true purpose of Christian spirituality
is not what we do for ourselves or how holy we may appear to
others. It is how we point beyond ourselves and bear witness
to the majesty and love of God. A God-centered spirituality
brings glory to God rather that credit to ourselves.
We are also, according to the [Westminster Shorter] Catechism,
"to enjoy [God]. Piety of spirituality is not a dreary
negation of everything in the world; the challenge of Reformed
piety is to discover the joy of obedient discipleship."
—Howard L. Rice.
Reformed Spirituality.
Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991: 47.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Spirituality:
See also Spiritual Formation
"Spirituality is the pattern by which we shape our lives
in response to our experience of God as a very real presence
in and around us."
—Howard L. Rice.
Reformed Spirituality.
Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991: 45
"To be spiritual is to take seriously
our consciousness of God's presence and to live in such a way
that the presence of God is central in all that we do. This
awareness of God is not automatic, nor can it be brought about
by any particular technique. We can, however, open ourselves
to the already present God by deliberately cultivating certain
disciplines of mind and will."
—Howard L. Rice.
Reformed Spirituality.
Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press, 1991: 46
Spirituality as a concept points to the style of apprehending
and responding to the ultimate in our lives. In its widest sense,
Sandra Schneiders (1986) speaks of spirituality as the experience
of consciously striving to integrate one's life in terms of
self-transcendence toward what one perceives to be of ultimate
value. It can be specified by a variety of religious or nonreligious
contexts and theologies, but is distinguished by its reference
to issues of ultimate concern.
Spirituality, then, can be thought of as the ongoing, transformational
experience of intentional, conscious engagement with the presence
of the Ultimate/God, involving three dynamics: nurturing or
preparing for interaction with the presence of the Ultimate/God,
the affective human experience of interaction with the presence
of the Ultimate/God, and intentionally responding to that presence.
A person's spirituality is his or her lived pattern of engaging
the presence of the Holy, becoming intimate with the presence
of the Ultimate/God (Liebert and Dreitcer, 1995).
A specifically Christian spirituality would relate the human
capacity for self-transcendence to God as revealed in Jesus
Christ and communicated by the Holy Spirit to the Church (Schneiders,
1993). Particular Christian communities will stress different
aspects of this relationship; hence different Christian communities
may be said to express varieties of Christian spiritualities.
As an academic discipline, spirituality studies the lived experience
of this self- transcendence in the light of the Ultimate/God.
It is an interdisciplinary enterprise, at various moments, descriptive,
critically analytical (using the lenses of various disciplines
determined by the phenomenon studied and the questions the researcher
is attempting to investigate), and constructive.
—Elizabeth Liebert (San
Francisco Theological Seminary)
The following analytic categories, by Andrew Dreitcer of the
Claremont School of Theology, are useful in distinguishing and
assessing the variety of spiritualities commonly encountered
today:
- What is the definition of “spirituality” in
this tradition?
- What is the aim of this spirituality? What image or term
captures this? What are the characteristics of this aim? What
would the truly spiritual person do, feel, experience, think,
value and reject according to this spirituality?
- What methods and practices can the person participate in
to help this spirituality flourish?
- What is the context or environment of the actions and attitudes
initiated by others (including God) that allow this spirituality
to flourish?
- What is the experience of the person over time as she/he
lives into this spirituality?
- What are the central insights into, understandings of,
or assumptions about the nature of God, humans creation, church,
Scripture, etc. that operate as a part of this spirituality.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Spiritual
Formation: See also Spirituality
"Spiritual formation is the activity of the Holy Spirit
which molds our lives into the likeness of Jesus Christ. This
likeness is one of deep intimacy with God and genuine compassion
for all of creation. The Spirit works not only in the lives
of individuals but also in the church, shaping it into the Body
of Christ. We cooperate with this work of the Spirit through
certain practices that make us more open and responsive to the
Spirit's touch, disciplines such as sabbath keeping, works of
compassion and justice, discernment, worship, hospitality, spiritual
friendships, and contemplative silence."
—Office of Spiritual
Formation,
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)
Spiritual formation refers to the means that a particular community
of faith uses to bring members into that community of faith
and assist them in their continual development of faithful response.
It shares many commonalities with spiritual guidance, and in
some circumstances, may also include spiritual direction. What
distinguishes it is the orientation to a particular group's
life of faith. From the point of view of the individual, Maxie
Dunham's formulation is helpful: “Spiritual formation
is that dynamic process of receiving through faith and appropriating
through commitment, discipline, and action, the living Christ
into our own life to the end that our life will conform to and
manifest the reality of Christ's presence in the world.”
—Elizabeth Liebert (San
Francisco Theological Seminary) |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Spiritual
Guidance
Spiritual guidance, as I will use the term, refers to all the
pastoral responses which have been called “care of souls”
or “cure of souls” since Gregory the Great in the
sixth century, insofar as these pastoral functions raise our
awareness of God's call and our appropriate responses. Spiritual
guidance occurs through such varied pastoral activities as regular
pastoral calls on congregants, letters of counsel or condolence,
confessional or penitential guidance, preaching and worship,
visits to the sick and imprisoned, sacramental preparation,
pastoral counseling, and education in the texts, traditions
and disciplines of the Christian community. Spiritual guidance
employs all the means, including spiritual direction, that the
church offers for the healing, sustaining, guiding, reconciling
and nurturing of its members.
(Note: some persons who dislike the phrase “spiritual
direction” use “spiritual guidance” to
refer to the one-to-one relationship traditionally called spiritual
direction.)
—Elizabeth Liebert (San
Francisco Theological Seminary) |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
Spiritual Direction
Spiritual direction is an interpersonal helping relationship,
rooted in the church's ministry of pastoral care. In this relationship,
one Christian assists another to discover and live out in the
context of the Christian community his or her deepest values
and life goals in response to God's initiative and the Biblical
mandate. Spiritual direction particularizes spiritual guidance
to each person's unique experiences, life circumstances, decisions,
and yearnings. Furthermore, spiritual direction always involves
an explicit covenant to sensitize persons to God and encourage
them to deepen this relationship in all its ramifications. Thus,
spiritual direction is a more specific, individualized form
of spiritual guidance.
—Elizabeth Liebert (San
Francisco Theological Seminary)
More on Spiritual Direction
Many Presbyterians have heard about spiritual direction and
are eager to know more about it. To help us learn more, Presbyterian
minister and spiritual director Jeff Gaines, who is the Executive
Director of Spiritual Directors International, graciously agreed
to be interviewed by telephone.
Read the interview —
Items marked with
are in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. For best results, right-click
the link (or click and hold for Macintosh), select "save target
as" and save the document to your desktop for viewing and
printing.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
