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The Internship Class of 2014 gathered for a Celebration of Blessing on Saturday May 3rd in West Hartford to mark the completion of the internship program. We are happy to share with you some of what our graduates are saying about their experience of the internship:
“It has been an honor and a privilege to be part of this group. I have been so touched by the depth of sharing and of respect for one another and also the openness to growth and transformation that we all brought to our community. I am truly grateful for this experience.”
“I will use what I’ve learned with those I companion in spiritual direction, with my patients, my family and friends and in my own practice of prayer. The range of topics we studied makes me equipped to serve a wide range of people and also gives me experts to call on for referrals and professional advice.”
“When I think of the power of the program, what stands out is the artful weaving together of many elements, each individually rich, that have been part of our nourishment. Simple things like the centering pieces, poems, prayers, silences, triads, real-plays, presentations, group discussion, wise and diverse readings, contemplative homework, practicum experience, peer and individual supervision, and my own spiritual direction, all of these elements work together in such a way that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.”
“While clearly rooted in my own beliefs and faith tradition, at the same time I feel more spiritual freedom and a greater capacity to set myself aside, listen deeply, and meet someone where they are with a peaceful, welcoming presence.”
Reflections By Interns
SLC SD Internship Graduation Reflection
May 3, 2014 Marie Ferrantino
A man once asked God: “What is a million years like to you?”
God replied, “Like one second.”
The man asked, “What is a million dollars like to you?”
God said, “Like one penny.”
The man asked, “Can I have a penny?”
God replied, “Sure. Just a second.”
Some things can’t be rushed. Growing in our relationship with God is one of them. It helps to have friend with you when you are on a long trip. Throughout my journey in this two-year internship program, many friends have asked me, “What exactly is a spiritual director?”
Spiritual direction can be defined as the art of sacred listening. It is one person helping another to understand, discern, and respond to God’s presence and action in their life. It’s more than focusing on a person’s ‘ spiritual’ dimension. Together, we look at the complete picture: heart, mind, spirit, body, desires, and actions. A spiritual director will seldom tell us what to do or how to do it. In fact, there really is no director involved other than the Holy Spirit. A spiritual director stands with us in love and presence on our walk of faith.
We listen , striving to become a mirror for the directee, by reflecting back their life experience, and helping them to notice God’s movement and action in their life – and to understand those actions -- savor them, and respond to them. It is not a person’s actual life events themselves that are most important, but rather the responses they evoke within us – the feelings of joy, sorrow, peace, anxiety, and all that arises and stirs within us.
Jesus served others by listening carefully to them. He appreciated learning about a person’s concerns and their spiritual condition. Following his resurrection, Jesus approached two men walking along the road to Emmaus, and asked them, “What are you discussing together as you walk along?” In essence, that is what we do as spiritual directors -- we walk together on the road, listening for the still, small voice that invites us to reflect more deeply.
Catholic priest and author Henri Nouwen wrote: "…the spiritual life is a life in which you gradually learn to listen to a voice that says something else, that says, ‘You are the beloved and upon you my favor rests.’... I want you to hear that voice. It is not a very loud voice because it is an intimate voice. It comes from a very deep place. It is soft and gentle. We both need to gradually to hear that voice and to claim for ourselves that that voice speaks the truth -- our truth. It tells us who we are. That is where the spiritual life begins – by claiming the Voice that calls us the beloved."
Each one of us is that beloved.
As I consider our faithful graduating class, our ever-patient and supportive internship team of Andree, Louise, and Oscar, and the entire community of the Spiritual Life Center, as well as our families and friends, I am reminded of how each person possesses a unique and precious spark of divinity. Together, we create a reflected mosaic of Divine Presence. How beautiful! I know I speak on behalf of the entire class in saying – thank all of you for making this such a powerful and life-changing experience for us.
To my fellow new spiritual directors, I leave you with these inspirational words entitled “A Lightworker’s Creed”:
I am a Lightworker.
I awoke, so that others may awaken.
I learn, so that others may also learn.
I transform, so that others may transform.
I lighten my load, so that others may change theirs.
I learn to see, so that others may also see.
I forgave myself, so that I may help others to forgive.
I love myself, so that I can bring out love in others.
I am a Lightworker.
I live to give comfort.
I live to shine loving light onto others.
I live to heal.
I live to give hope.
I live for the truth.
I live to love.
Namaste.
Spiritual Direction Internship
Blessing Ceremony
Prayer
Ann J. Jones
Blessing for the Peeps
Gentle, Gentle, Gentle
Gracious spirit of Love,
Divine healer of hearts
Thank you for calling us together
To be a beloved band of seekers
For the past two years.
Thank you for the grace that has sustained
The Spiritual Life Center
Our Team and Partners
And our families and loved ones who have supported us
Along the way to becoming Spiritual Directors.
With compassion as our guide
We have deepened our spiritual practices
Of silence, deep listening and prayer
To honor
The Present moment and hear true guidance.
Divine spirit of love and light
Guide us, hold us, and sustain us as we prepare to go on our way
To share what we have gleaned from our beautiful time of
Laughter and struggle,
Tears and triumphs…
Bring us ease within
that helps us to know
We can create sacred containers for
Goodness to flow through
Please hold our hearts as we sit with those we companion
And help us to know when we are doing our best…
When we stray from Center,
Gently nudge us back to Source
With your gentle, mighty guidance.
Shower us and those we serve…. with holiness
That we may ignite the fires of transformation
For good in the world AMEN
Spiritual Director Internship
Graduation Poem
Nancy Benben
“Everything and Nothing”
It was everything I hoped for
And nothing like I imagined
A relationship with my Holy Spirit
Intimate, deeply personal
Vibrating with love and life and joy and wonder.
Effervescent
Sparks that move as a living, thriving force
Through and around me
To the heavens and back.
It was everything I hoped for
And nothing like I imagined,
To be surprised by pain
So old, so old
But still raw and rough.
Wise
Waiting patiently for the time when
Compassion and pity and shared anger
Could break through the scar,
And turn it inside out
For healing
Again.
It was everything I hoped for
And nothing like I imagined,
To find my tribe
My beautiful, wise
Struggling, knowing, friends.
Yet so much more than friends
A family
Dancing a soul dance
Together
Forever.
It was everything I hoped for
And nothing like I imagined,
A future unknown, yet deeply known
A kaleidoscope of swirling color
Soft and fluid
The clarion call of chimes in the Shekinah
The patient, insistent whisper
“Take my hand…
Walk with me
Walk with me!”
We congratulate the members of the Class of 2014 and
welcome them as colleagues in Spiritual Direction!