This blog site is now no longer current. I have a new site at www.maesspiritualdirection.blogspot.com
See ya there!

I sit here at my computer, post first weekend of school. I am a whirlwind of thoughts and feelings. (All good fodder, by the way, for any student in a school for Spiritual Direction.) Did I think I wouldn't experience this whirlwind? No. Did I anticipate the enormity of it all. No. And I put no particular judgment on "enormity" at this point, either, by the way.

Let me say it this way: Here are two lists. In one list are the words I heard and wrote down that threatened to unnerve me. In the other are words that energized me as I heard them. Had you been there, you would have heard these words, too. You might have arranged them differently. Probably so.

Unnerving words: challenging, deep (yes, even too deep for ME, Sandy! ha!), do things you never thought you would, stretch yourselves, evaluation, six books to read, presentation, six papers to write.

Energizing words: meditating, processing, like going on a retreat, female deity, personal experience, conscious of experience, ask "why?", journaling, prayer, relate to, questioning, probing, digging deeper, self.

And then there are questions to think about like, "Is being good an obstacle to being better for you?" or "How do you explain the human faults with the Church?" and "How do you explain the problem of suffering?" and "What is your definition of a parent?" Lots and lots of questions like these. Are they candy? Medicine? Bitter herbs?

And there were incredible moments when I felt like I had "come home", as I sat in a room full of twenty people who all spoke "my language" of feelings. And I didn't have to explain myself!

And then there were the teachers, so perceptive, intuitive, and full of heart.

And the chapel with one entire wall of glass that looked out over a beautiful and peaceful garden. Oh, to worship in such a place on a regular basis! And the stained glass windows created by one of the women living in the complex. Women can be so amazing. See these stained glass windows as a slide show on this website: http://www.columbusdominicans.org/Home/home.htm

And my assessment of it all as I sit here at my computer? I heard the call and at this moment I am satisfied that I am in the right place. That's enough for now.

PS. Special thanks to Merv and Martha for their hospitality. It was good to feel "at home" there, too!

I am officially launching off in a new direction! I am going back to school...an event I really never thought I would engage in. But on August 25th, I will be starting studies at Wellstream school for spiritual direction in Columbus, Ohio. I invite you to walk with me over the next three years as I head off into a new world. Believe in me, listen to me, rejoice with me as I do exactly the same for myself. Thanks!