ebookgroup

I am worried, finally, because much spiritual direction assumes a view of spirituality which is not wholesome and only tenuously Christian, and which reflects the individualism and privatizationof religion in the West rather than any embodiment in a corporate tradition. 1 have warned for many years of the dangers of a new gnosticism. Now Christopher Lasch claims that gnosticism is 'the characteristic form of contemporary spirituality ' and I find myself agreeing with him. Nor is this gnostic illuminism only a problem outside the church. Much current Christian writing on spiritual direction, as on spirituality as a whole, has lost its roots in Scripture and tradition and has colluded with the current culture of contentment and narcissism. Xviii

The motion of spiritual progress is an essential element in the biblical revelation, for its concern is with the progress of a people, progress marked by sin and repentance, by wilderness and exile, by conflict and struggle. It is a progress which includes the illumination of the Spirit, the prophetic vision, and it culminates in the Incarnation. The Christian life is described in the New Testament as progress: putting one's hand to the plough and not looking back (Luke 9:62.), enduring to the end (Matthew 24:12., 13), preparing for a race or conflict (i Corinthians 9:24-6). There is the clear call to perfection, to holiness, to fullness of life in Christ. The call to be perfect (teleios) (Philippians 3:15) is variously translated as a call to spiritual maturity (RSV and NEB) and to spiritual adulthood (j. B. Phillips). It is this process of spiritual maturing which is the purpose of spiritual direction. 33

The Shepherd is one who feeds and nourishes the flock , makes the weak strong, seeks the lost, cares for the sick, and bandages the wounded (Ezekiel 34:3-4; 15-16). This Shepherd image recurs frequently in the history of the cure of souls. In Ezekiel, the Shepherd is concerned not only with healing (34:16) but also with the achievement of harmony and of shalom, peace (3 4:24). And in the New Testament, there is a bringing together of the themes of the wounded healer, the slain lamb, the stricken shepherd, and the guide who nourishes the flock. 33

So the director's role can be summarized under four main functions:

a evaluation of the person's prayer-potential, and guidance in finding the right forms of prayer;
b assessment of the persons progress and help in evolving new ways of prayer;
c identification of aids and obstacles in the person's spiritual life;
d enabling the person to become more open to God and less dependent on the human director. 58

Agnes Sanford, have termed 'inner healing'. 95 Inner healing, or the 'healing of the memories', means that the wounds which still remain from the past, and which still affect the present, are healed, and the poison of past hurts and resentments is drained away and replaced by an inflow of love. It is 'the application of Christ's healing power to what we now know of the emotional nature of man'. 121

Spirit = an internal impulse

INTELLECT
WILL
Signs of good spirit
Signs of bad spirit
Signs of good spirit
Signs of bad spirit
True
False
Inner peace
Disquiet
Not concerned with useless affairs
Useless, vain pre-occupations
True humility
False humility
Illumines intellect
Darkness, or deceptive lights in imagination
Trust in God
Presumption or despair
Docility of intellect
Obstinate opinion
Flexible will
Obstinacy of heart
Discretion
Excess and exaggeration
Right intention
Devious intentions
Humble thoughts
Pride and vanity
Patience in pain
Impatience in pain


Inner mortification
Rebellion of passions


Simplicity and sincerity
Duplicity and dissimulation


Liberty of spirit
Soul bound by earthly ties


Zeal for imitation of Christ
Estrangement from Christ


Charity
Bitter zeal





125

in the NTt the powers that be in the world are called angeloi, daimoniai, arcbai and exousiai, the world rulers of this present darkness, the rudiments of the world (i Corinthians 2.:6-8; Ephesians 6: 12.; Galatians 4:3; Colossians 2:8). The symbolism, probably derived from the astral beliefs of the time, is one of cosmic warfare, involving an army of invisible beings who 'stand behind what occurs in the world'."' 126



The east does not think about salvation in terms of the individual soul returning to its maker; it is visualised rather as a gradual process of transfiguration of the whole cosmos. Man is saved not from the world but into the world.
138

St Ignatius saw the purpose of 'spiritual exercises' to be ridding the soul of all 'inordinate attachments', the necessary preliminary to seeking and finding the will of God. The idea of exercises is not a narrow one, for 'under the name of spiritual exercises is understood every method of examination of conscience, of meditation, of contemplation, of vocal and mental prayer, and of other spiritual operations as shall hereafter be declared'.

144

specific obstacles to prayer

First, refusal to forgive.

Secondly, anger and quarrelsome thoughts.
Thirdly, refusal to be reconciled. The existence of disharmony, linked with injustice in social relationships, is seen in the prophets as a barrier to prayer

A fourth area in which prayer can be hindered is that of distorted sexuality and lust.

Fith involvement in the occult and in magical rites

6 disobedience to God’s will

7 refusal o confess

8 greed and aravice

164 ff

The firist step to sanctity is self – knowledge Thomas Merton