Good morning…
Some of you know that I am waking up this morning surrounded by one of my favorite places on earth. Today, my expectant eyes open in silence, alone, to a stark little room filled with each necessary amenity. I wake from sleep at the Ignatius House Jesuit Retreat Center, where am taking my first three day weekend class of five in my Spiritual Direction certification program through Richmont Graduate University.
When is the last time you took a graduate level class? Well I must admit, preparing for this intensive three day course has exposed an overwhelmingly rusty feeling. One of the books I was supposed to have completed before arriving was a dense 428 page difficult read. With my busy work schedule, my family’s plethora of needs, and my woefully dyslexic brain, how was I to tackle this feat?
I stewed anxiously. I dropped my fearful monologue into a dialogue with the Holy Spirit, “I don’t think I can do this. How am I supposed to read a thick book of concepts I cannot comprehend? God, You will have to help me if this assignment is to get done.” I talked over my worry with the LORD, again and again. Again and again.
Over time, God answered. I felt drawn to google overviews of this Christian classic, and I discovered a down to earth, beautifully written summary of the book, chapter by chapter. This understandable overview was something simple my busy life and my unique brain could receive with grateful joy. God hand crafted for me a personal spring board into His wisdom.
Now I am onto my best forms of learning. Taking good notes from wise teachers. Collaborating in conversation with new, seeking friends. Pondering on the blank page the wisdom being woven, as the LORD prepares me for the possibility of becoming a Spiritual Director to ordinary people listening attentively for the guidance of God.
“Ask and keep on asking and it will be given to you; seek and keep on seeking and you will find; knock and keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives, and he who keeps on seeking finds, and to him who keeps on knocking, it will be opened,” Matthew 7:7-8 (AMP),
Sue
