Metaphor and Spiritual Direction

Metaphor and Spiritual Direction

Marsha Crockett
Abiding, Spiritual Direction, Hospitality

 To help understand the role of spiritual director and the practice of “direction,” metaphors paint a more accurate picture. For instance, Margaret Guenther in her book Holy Listening expounds on the metaphor of the director as a midwife helping others give birth to what is growing or awakening within their spirit.  I like that image because it acknowledges the life within the directee does not belong to the midwife, nor is she the one laboring to bring forth new life. Yet she is a present help, a comforter, encourager, observer of the process, aware of changes, challenges, and the stages of birth.

However, I’ve recently begun to think of a spiritual director in a new way – like a musical director or maestro. The director neither writes the music, nor is the one expressing the music directly.  Rather she or he listens, observes, tunes the ear, blends the notes into a harmonious whole, highlights spots of dissonance or hurried rhythms. And the director may tone down the brassy voices of others that have led the melody for too long so that the directee’s own quieter voice finds its full beauty and expression. The role of the director is to offer a greater perspective and attunement to how one is participating in the divine symphony.

What are other metaphors that help you define your experience of spiritual direction either as a directee or a director?





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